CCP and the wife...

[Gideon]

My girlfriend says she'll never carry a firearm. I say, ok, that's fine, but I would really like you to at least learn how to safely handle and use mine, just in case.

She may never carry...but if you break into my house one day you may be sent to your maker by a 5'4" 110 lb. girl with a Saiga-12.

 

[wheats]

Thankfully I don't have the same issues, in fact quite the opposite.

However, if you're wife is worried about guns in general, I think the only solution is time with consistent information.

I think a self defense class would be an excellent "eye-opener".

 

[BadgeBunny]

Thankfully I don't have the same issues, in fact quite the opposite.

However, if you're wife is worried about guns in general, I think the only solution is time with consistent information.

I think a self defense class would be an excellent "eye-opener".

This in spades. When GC and I got together all I knew about guns was I did not like them. I lost a close classmate in junior high school to an accidental shotgun blast and was not only not interested in them but terrified also. It didn't help matters any that during my wilder, younger days a fella fighting with my boyfriend yanked out a .45 and fired several rounds at us. How in the hell he missed is beyond me, but you have not been scared until you have heard the whistle of a bullet flying past your ear.

If any of your wives are like me, a class is not going to help at first. I can tell you what GC did and maybe it will spark something that will help you out.

1. He never pushed his guns off on me. Every time he went to the range he asked me if I wanted to go, NOT if I wanted to shoot -- if I wanted to GO. I probably went out to Harry's with him for almost a year and took a book and read while he shot. He would ask me every time we went if I wanted to shoot. If I said no he left it at that. If I showed any interest he let me shoot, even if it was only one bullet and never pushed me to do more than I wanted.

2. When he cleaned his gun (and he did every single time he shot them) he did it in the living room where I could see what was going on whether I wanted to or not. Looking back, there was always something he "needed" help with ... Yeah, right ... He had been shooting and cleaning guns since before he could stand up really good, but I was a dunce and bought it hook, line and sinker. Of course, while I was "helping" he was taking that opportunity to show me different things in a nonthreatening and nonconfrontational environment. Play with your grip, play with the trigger, look at this, this is what is different about these two guns, this is what is the same ... you get my drift.

3. He did things with me he didn't want to do (like go shopping) and then if I didn't want to go to the range said things like "But honey ... I went shopping with you ... "

4. He never told me that this gun or that gun was "too much" for me to handle. He would say "this is gonna have some snap to it" -- he never prejudged the recoil of a weapon for me. He left that to me. It was pretty funny when I first told him that I preferred the 1911 .45 he had over the Glock 17 ... But for me overall the experience of shooting the .45 was better than it was with the .9mm. Now I will shoot anything ...

Consequently, I knew an awful lot about guns before I ever fired more than a magazine or so at a time. I was also comfortable with handling a gun ... not shooting, but making sure one was unloaded and safe, how to unload a loaded gun, how to hold one, keeping my finger off the trigger all the time, etc.

5. Finally, he drug me kicking and screaming (and I am not kidding here) to an IPSC match out at the Oklahoma City Gun Club. That was all she wrote ... The pooch was screwed. Once I figured out guns could be fun I was sunk.

THEN, I took my conceal carry class and got my license. I am never without my gun. In fact, I fussed at GC today because when we went to the store I had my gun but he did not take his ...

And to close ... be careful what you wish for guys ... A shooting wife is expensive ...

Actually, good luck to you fellas ... GC has been where you are. If he can "git'r done" so can you!!

 

[jrusling]

And to close ... be careful what you wish for guys ... A shooting wife is expensive ...

Actually, good luck to you fellas ... GC has been where you are. If he can "git'r done" so can you!!

My wife has always shot a little after she met me. When I got an AR-15, she decided that it would be her primary home defense weapon. Nine months later when we were at the range, she bought me a Wilson .45. The only problem is that the next day after we went back to the range and got home, she told me "This is mine, but I will share". The .45 became her primary home defense weapon. Things went quickly down hill from there. She wanted to go to the range once a week. Those .45's got expensive, so I bought her a Ruger MKIII Hunter. After that she wanted her own lane so we would not have to take turns. That meant that I had to buy me a Ruger MKIII so I would have something cheap to shoot. Then this last Feb. she got to feeling sorry for me and told me I could call Wilson up and order what ever I wanted. Now we go to the range 6 or 7 times a month and I am still spending a lot on .45's and now some for all of the .22's we shoot.

 

[TripleD]

I just finished reading "The Concealed Handgun Manual" by Chris Bird.

http://www.amazon.com/Concealed-Handgun-Manual-Choose-Defense/dp/0965678415

It has loads of good information for anyone that is considering concealed carry. Info about different guns, gunfight tactics, different laws by state, what to expect if you ever get into a gunfight, and many stories about shootings that happened to ccp holders.

 

[blutch]

I second TripleD's recommendation. This is a fantastic book. Read it cover-to-cover. I've lent it to countless friends - several single women who have had their homes or cars broken into. Can't get my wife to read it. At least she lets me have loaded guns in the house and on my person. She won't touch them though.. even though I've made the point that she needs to know how to handle them for safety. Nope.. not going to touch them. Here's to hoping she never needs one.

B

 

[BadgeBunny]

I just remembered a website that was recommended to me by one of the guys at the gun range when I first started going with GC ... it is written by a woman and is for women.

I found it extremely informative at the time. Maybe this will help:

Cornered Cat

 

[watchcollector1968]

My wife was a little skittish around handguns...she seemed to be one of those who thought it would jump up all by itself and start killing.

We spent (and still do) talking a lot about guns, mindset, carrying and how we might handle certain situations. We spend a fair amount of time at the range.

We have both had our permits for a while now and she is never without her gun...and she is very comfortable with it...no fear of it at all.

She also seems to naturally be far more aware of what is going on around her.

It just takes time and exposure to guns and shooting to become more comfortable with them.

 

[Bierhunter]

I'm one of the lucky ones. My wife has her own guns.

At first, though, she accepted the fact that I owned guns, but she just wasn't comfortable handling any of them. For her, it was just a matter of lack of experience.

I bought her a .380 one year for valentines day. Now all of a sudden she had "her" gun, and she wanted to learn how to use it. She now owns her .380, a S&W .357 revolver, and a Sig P239 9mm which is the one she's getting setup to carry as soon as CLEET gets her PI license processed.

It just took time and education, and I let her learn and get comfortable at her own pace. I never pushed her. She went from 'not comfortable" with guns to being CLEET certified to carry one. I'm really proud of her.

Time and education can do wonders.

I did have a rule for choosing someone for a long term relationship though.

I've owned guns my entire adult life. Any time I was in a relationship, I had one rule that could not be broken if we were to stay together. The person I was with had to accept the fact that I would own guns my entire life. If she couldn't accept that, then there was no point in staying together. If I was going to spend the rest of my life with someone, I had to make sure we could live together.

I just remembered a website that was recommended to me by one of the guys at the gun range when I first started going with GC ... it is written by a woman and is for women.

I found it extremely informative at the time. Maybe this will help:

Cornered Cat

That's an excellent link BB. I really like the cornered cat analogy.