Family Members and Firearms
- Thread starter ScottieG59
- Start date
My wife of 21 years accepted my passion for guns and motorcycles when she said "yes". Now she rides her own bike, but I've never been able to get her to warm up to firearms. I carry almost always and she doesn't say much, trusting I suppose, that our family is a little safer with me armed.
Couple of years ago my wife and I were walking our Black Lab around our suburban neighborhood and a block away from our home a guy was getting his two pitbulls out of his truck and moving them into the house. One of the dogs, a smaller female actually, got loose and ran aggressivily toward us. I let go of the dog to free him and my right hand. Our poor Lab thought he was meeting a new friend, but abruptly found his skull in the jaws of that pitbull. The owner came right behind and jumped into the melee'. It seemed like forever, but was probably only 20 - 30 seconds until the owner was able to get his pup off my Lab. The Lab was OK, maybe embarassed that he just got his butt kicked by a smaller dog and girl dog to boot, but he shook it off- some blood from the bite punctures but nothing worth going to the vet over. The pitbull owner was another story, bleeding from several bites in the arms from my dog, his dog, who knew?
Later at home, my wife asked me if I thought about using my pistol on the pitbull. My answer was "no, it is two dogs fighting, not a threat to you or me, plus, shortly after the fight started there is a person in there. If the aggressive dog comes after you or me, I will do my best to defend us, but I do not intend to deal with the legal system on a weapon discharge in city limits citation because two dogs got into a fight. "
And no, I did not call the police, file a suit or anything against the pitbull owner- he got the worst of the encounter. I just can't understand why someone will own an animal they cannot control or will neglect.
Couple of years ago my wife and I were walking our Black Lab around our suburban neighborhood and a block away from our home a guy was getting his two pitbulls out of his truck and moving them into the house. One of the dogs, a smaller female actually, got loose and ran aggressivily toward us. I let go of the dog to free him and my right hand. Our poor Lab thought he was meeting a new friend, but abruptly found his skull in the jaws of that pitbull. The owner came right behind and jumped into the melee'. It seemed like forever, but was probably only 20 - 30 seconds until the owner was able to get his pup off my Lab. The Lab was OK, maybe embarassed that he just got his butt kicked by a smaller dog and girl dog to boot, but he shook it off- some blood from the bite punctures but nothing worth going to the vet over. The pitbull owner was another story, bleeding from several bites in the arms from my dog, his dog, who knew?
Later at home, my wife asked me if I thought about using my pistol on the pitbull. My answer was "no, it is two dogs fighting, not a threat to you or me, plus, shortly after the fight started there is a person in there. If the aggressive dog comes after you or me, I will do my best to defend us, but I do not intend to deal with the legal system on a weapon discharge in city limits citation because two dogs got into a fight. "
And no, I did not call the police, file a suit or anything against the pitbull owner- he got the worst of the encounter. I just can't understand why someone will own an animal they cannot control or will neglect.
WANT A LCR 22LR
New member
""I just can't understand why someone will own an animal they cannot control or will neglect.""
It's because they want to be a bad xxx having a "dangerous" animal but have no clue on how to be a responsible person.
It's because they want to be a bad xxx having a "dangerous" animal but have no clue on how to be a responsible person.
Wife and Guns
My wife is not a gun aficianado but she has no objection to using one if she has to.She grew up in a really bad neighborhood on the west edge of Harlem in NYC.
She has good manual dexterity as a former gymnast and she shoots competently.
My son always has to keep his guns locked because he has a five year old daughter who likes her cap pistols and a wife who unfortunately got a felony conviction years ago due to youthful stupidity(not drug related) so she can't have ready access to firearms.My son has a clean record so he can't be denied firearms ownership in our state.
My father in law was a veteran of three wars,but he has Alzheimer's now so my brother in law has to keep firearms away from him even though he really enjoyed shooting.
I rambled on here because even in one family there can be a bunch of different factors that require different approaches.
My wife is not a gun aficianado but she has no objection to using one if she has to.She grew up in a really bad neighborhood on the west edge of Harlem in NYC.
She has good manual dexterity as a former gymnast and she shoots competently.
My son always has to keep his guns locked because he has a five year old daughter who likes her cap pistols and a wife who unfortunately got a felony conviction years ago due to youthful stupidity(not drug related) so she can't have ready access to firearms.My son has a clean record so he can't be denied firearms ownership in our state.
My father in law was a veteran of three wars,but he has Alzheimer's now so my brother in law has to keep firearms away from him even though he really enjoyed shooting.
I rambled on here because even in one family there can be a bunch of different factors that require different approaches.
harry mudd
Moderator
My wife and I are on opposite sides of several things. Guns are just one of them. You should do what you KNOW is right. I am not saying you should dismiss her input, I am saying to make a well thought out decision, YOUR decision. On the other hand my wife is often a limiting influence when testosterone kicks in. I have a whole box full of guns despite what my wife thinks. Occasionally my wife tells me to put my wussy gun away and don't be a jerk. As far as the dog is concerned, i am leaning with your wife on that. Face it, you probably have him outweighed by a considerable amount. And you have hands. If it was an unarmed man that size would you be afraid of of him? (maybe so, i haven't seen the dog) I recognise that you are within your rights to shoot him but someone could love this dog. I WOULD however deliver a stout whipping without even thinking about it. I also have available several good jokes just for a tuff dog. Try loading .38 specials with art-gum erasers! just pull the lead out and cut a circle from the ersaer with the shell. I have also been known to cut the end out of a 12ga. shell and cut circles out of a slice of bread, cookie cutter style untill it's full. A .410 shell loaded with plasticine clay is very amusing! (hey. i'm 52 years old, they didn't have paintball guns when i was a kid. what was a child to do but improvise?) With a very little thinking you could send dogs running home to their mommy while your wife laughs instead of giving you " the look"
micromontenegro
New member
"Despite the fact that I feared severe injury in the encounter on my yard, she thought it would be savage and barbaric to harm any animal, even one that is trying to attack me"
Hard not the harsh here. She seems to be clear about her priorities, and the unknown dog comes before you.
Hard not the harsh here. She seems to be clear about her priorities, and the unknown dog comes before you.
carprivershooter
New member
my wife
My wife is not a gun person, she can shoot, she learned in the military. She just does not want to shoot or handle a gun. For me I own a pistol of just about every cailber. I shoot weekly and I carry daily. She accepts this. I know that if I were in danger from a dangous animal she would perfer the animal when down. We are both dog lovers, she has her purse dog and I have a golden. Both are house dogs only good for petting and cleaning up after. My wife support my gun hobby and reloading and I support her hobbies. Sometimes in a marrage you can't agree on things you have compromise and except things as they are. If you want a gun rifle or handgun tell her you are going to get it. Explain why you think it is necessay. It takes two people to be a couple, you do not stop being and individual when you get married.
My wife is not a gun person, she can shoot, she learned in the military. She just does not want to shoot or handle a gun. For me I own a pistol of just about every cailber. I shoot weekly and I carry daily. She accepts this. I know that if I were in danger from a dangous animal she would perfer the animal when down. We are both dog lovers, she has her purse dog and I have a golden. Both are house dogs only good for petting and cleaning up after. My wife support my gun hobby and reloading and I support her hobbies. Sometimes in a marrage you can't agree on things you have compromise and except things as they are. If you want a gun rifle or handgun tell her you are going to get it. Explain why you think it is necessay. It takes two people to be a couple, you do not stop being and individual when you get married.
fightingbard
New member
Harming the living when there is no need...yes, it is devils work...
Having guns...no, it is not.
I am in my second marriage. My first wife did not like guns, did not like to be out in the woods, did not like animals...etc. In summary did not like anything I like.
It seems, your life "may" get quite ridiculous if you marry your high school girlfriend...
Right now, my wife comes with me to practice whenever she can. She gets jeaolus if I pay too much attention to my model 10, which she calls: a beauty.
I am middle aged now, and I can clearly see that I can not be a woman that dislikes/hates guns, because they have a huge role in my life.
My guns, gun magazines, books related to guns, spare parts...
It would mean she dislikes a huge part of my life, and it is my belief that no relationship can survive like that...
In addition to this, for so long now, I believe in gun rights and I am trying to convince anti-gun people that we, people need guns. And the fact that every gun has a history, a certain significance and most are plain beautiful...
So I ask myself, if I can not convince the human being lying beside me every night, whats the point in trying to convince total strangers. It can not be done...
Bu thats just me...
All the best
Having guns...no, it is not.
I am in my second marriage. My first wife did not like guns, did not like to be out in the woods, did not like animals...etc. In summary did not like anything I like.
It seems, your life "may" get quite ridiculous if you marry your high school girlfriend...
Right now, my wife comes with me to practice whenever she can. She gets jeaolus if I pay too much attention to my model 10, which she calls: a beauty.
I am middle aged now, and I can clearly see that I can not be a woman that dislikes/hates guns, because they have a huge role in my life.
My guns, gun magazines, books related to guns, spare parts...
It would mean she dislikes a huge part of my life, and it is my belief that no relationship can survive like that...
In addition to this, for so long now, I believe in gun rights and I am trying to convince anti-gun people that we, people need guns. And the fact that every gun has a history, a certain significance and most are plain beautiful...
So I ask myself, if I can not convince the human being lying beside me every night, whats the point in trying to convince total strangers. It can not be done...
Bu thats just me...
All the best
My mom cried on the phone when I told her I was at my future brother in-law's house getting ready to shoot for the first time.
Some time later my fiance calls telling me that my mom just called her in tears to talk about me and guns.
Bought my XD shortly afterwards. She doesn't know about it... yet. I figure she'll find out about it some day.
In fact none of my immediate family know I'm a gun owner, at least as far as I know. This past Thanksgiving I made sure to remind my fiance's family to avoid any gun discussions. My future brother in-law works as an IT contractor for the FBI and has several LE friends. He, his brother, and father own several guns and they also hunt. So yeah, if I hadn't said anything gun talk was sure to come up.
My mom is all worried that by simply having a gun I'm automatically going to get in trouble with the police, FBI, CIA, NSA, KGB, and all other three letter acronymed government agencies. Don't know if she's anti-gun but she's definitely anti-mehavingagun.
I don't care though.
Some time later my fiance calls telling me that my mom just called her in tears to talk about me and guns.
Bought my XD shortly afterwards. She doesn't know about it... yet. I figure she'll find out about it some day.
In fact none of my immediate family know I'm a gun owner, at least as far as I know. This past Thanksgiving I made sure to remind my fiance's family to avoid any gun discussions. My future brother in-law works as an IT contractor for the FBI and has several LE friends. He, his brother, and father own several guns and they also hunt. So yeah, if I hadn't said anything gun talk was sure to come up.
My mom is all worried that by simply having a gun I'm automatically going to get in trouble with the police, FBI, CIA, NSA, KGB, and all other three letter acronymed government agencies. Don't know if she's anti-gun but she's definitely anti-mehavingagun.
I don't care though.
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Really? My Mom used to wait for us to get home from school to clean the pheasants or rabbits we shot on the way home. We was poor folk and that was about all we got to eat. My Mom can flat outshoot most guys with her little ol 357 mag
Anyone recall a guy name of Bobby Riggs? Had a song,
went like this
"Woman get yer biscuits in the oven and yer buns in the bed"
had a tennis match with a gal beat him badly waaaaay back when.. Kinda put the damper on the male chauvinstic pig thing...As for them dogs, get a bunch of dog treats, one gets on ya toss him a treart or two. Soon he will be yer friend, I have used this method on every stray dog gets tossed out in my area, then a call to the no kill shelter.
Tennis balls are often a good defense against the typical stray. It is better to have the gun option than not to have it, but most of the time guns are not needed.
Try tossing a ball or stick next time.
I say this since in previous instances the dog hasn't actually tried to bite the OP.
A lot of the loose dogs I have encountered have been the tied outside and neglected sort. They want human attention, but are very leery of actually accepting it.
Try tossing a ball or stick next time.
I say this since in previous instances the dog hasn't actually tried to bite the OP.
A lot of the loose dogs I have encountered have been the tied outside and neglected sort. They want human attention, but are very leery of actually accepting it.
Stevie-Ray
New member
I'm the same way, and I think my wife would feel the same, though she would first want me to call the authorities, animal lover that she is. If threatened by a vicious animal and barred exit, she would definitely want me to shoot rather than be attacked. We've been married for over 35 years and in that time she's gone from disinterest to barely interested to something I call complete tolerance. The sight of my gun is nothing to her anymore, just the normal dress or table decoration. Though she never showed an interest for herself, she never once tried to steer me away from them, other than the we can't afford it arguement, which was sometimes true, bless her bill-collector mentality. She also bought me some of my finest guns for presents, can't kick about that.
harry mudd
Moderator
Ridiculous, AH.74? Maybe so. I do lots of dangerous things..... I must be a dangerous man. Do you consider handloading your own ammunition ridiculous? Handloaders aren't messing around with ammunition? Why not? I have also never met a domestic dog that I didn't Think I could pound severely bare handed, your mileage may vary. I don't go for the gun as my first recourse and I wont kill even a dog unless it's necessary. If that makes me ridiculous then I will be ridiculous. I am no more afraid of being ridiculous than I am afraid of discharging a 12ga. load of bread dough! Don't live a life of fear.
I'm trying to figure out how I'd feel if my wife preferred that I be attacked by a vicious animal to defending myself with a firearm ... sounds like the quote I heard a while back from a rabid (no pun intended) anti-gunner who said he'd rather see his family slain than take the life of their attacker ... this is a serious attitude issue which should be dealt with ... while my wife is delighted that I carry, I don't think I'd care one way or the other ... self-defense is a right and responsibility which you should not surrender because your wife doesn't like the idea ...
marriage is indeed a compromise -- I've been happily married for more than 20 years, so I know -- but seems in this case that the compromise needs to come from her side, not yours ...
marriage is indeed a compromise -- I've been happily married for more than 20 years, so I know -- but seems in this case that the compromise needs to come from her side, not yours ...
Once again, guys...
... the OP has never yet been attacked by a vicious animal, at least not in any scenario he's described. He's been stared down by a strange dog. These are NOT equivalent.
Saying his wife would rather see him attacked is both melodramatic and probably inaccurate.
If most cases of stray dogs approaching resulted in attacks, we'd either be reading about a whole lot more dog attacks, or a whole lot more defensive shootings.
Body language is probably more important than a firearm, in most cases, when dealing with unknown dogs.
To paraphrase the Dog Whisperer, what you need is calm, assertive energy.
Now, should the neighbor keep better control of his dog? Definitely. Is it unnerving to get stared at, and possibly menaced, by a large dog? Sure. But nothing the OP has described would really justify shooting so far; he hasn't been attacked, and letting bullets fly in a residential neighborhood should be a last resort.
In his situation, in a neighborhood, pepper spray would be safer all around.
But milk-bones, tennis balls, and fetchable sticks will quite often do a surprisingly good job at defusing what appears to be a threatening encounter.
... the OP has never yet been attacked by a vicious animal, at least not in any scenario he's described. He's been stared down by a strange dog. These are NOT equivalent.
Saying his wife would rather see him attacked is both melodramatic and probably inaccurate.
If most cases of stray dogs approaching resulted in attacks, we'd either be reading about a whole lot more dog attacks, or a whole lot more defensive shootings.
Body language is probably more important than a firearm, in most cases, when dealing with unknown dogs.
To paraphrase the Dog Whisperer, what you need is calm, assertive energy.
Now, should the neighbor keep better control of his dog? Definitely. Is it unnerving to get stared at, and possibly menaced, by a large dog? Sure. But nothing the OP has described would really justify shooting so far; he hasn't been attacked, and letting bullets fly in a residential neighborhood should be a last resort.
In his situation, in a neighborhood, pepper spray would be safer all around.
But milk-bones, tennis balls, and fetchable sticks will quite often do a surprisingly good job at defusing what appears to be a threatening encounter.