Al Thompson
Staff Alumnus
This is from a member who asked me the question on another thread. Many of you have far more experiance than I. Thoughts?
I was hoping you could give me some advice. My wife has only a passing interest in firearms. She is 100% in support of the 2nd amendment and will argue anyone down when it comes to gun rights (incluing her ulta-liberal mother..I'm so proud). She isn't afraid to hold or be around guns, but getting her to actualy fire one is like pulling teeth. I dont want her to do something she is afraid of or dosnt want to do to avoid any negative impresions of guns. She is very farmiliar with how to operate all of the guns I own. She know the proper grips/stances and how to make them function. However, her live fire experiance is limited to a few hundred rounds of .22 from a revolver and a magazine or 2 in my Sigma .40 and Glock 10mm. Out of the few round she did fire, they were all very accurate and quite controled...even with full powered 10mm defence ammo. When I'm sitting around cleanig my guns or something I'll sneak in a few dry fire leasons on sight picture, presentation, grip, etc..so I wasnt too suprised that she could hit well (given the eqivilent of 10-12 NRA basic pistol classes taken in our living room..lol). She comented that the recoil was way less than she imagined and not at all uncomfortable..but you could tell she just want having fun. I'm confident that in a bad situation she would know when to deploy a gun and how to use it effetively. Please note..she dosn't carry. But I keep a loaded gun in the car and of cource in the house. What I want to know, is how can I work around her timid nature towards guns? A really good set of earmuffs helped, but I found out that its not the noise or recoil that scares her. Its the gun itself that is intimidating. Some have suggested getting her a smaller, prettier, pocket style gun. To me this is like learning to eat for the first time with chop-sticks. I think a small gun, while less intimidating to look at, would be more so when it came to live fire.
I apreciate any advice you guys can give. I think it may just be a matter of time though. I tought my friends GF (who had never fired a gun and thought they should all be banned..period) how to shoot last weekend. She is quite proficant with my Carbon-15 and Glock pistols (her fav's) and hooked for life now. Her and my wife are good friends, and I think the estrogen challenge will soon end her timidness.
I was hoping you could give me some advice. My wife has only a passing interest in firearms. She is 100% in support of the 2nd amendment and will argue anyone down when it comes to gun rights (incluing her ulta-liberal mother..I'm so proud). She isn't afraid to hold or be around guns, but getting her to actualy fire one is like pulling teeth. I dont want her to do something she is afraid of or dosnt want to do to avoid any negative impresions of guns. She is very farmiliar with how to operate all of the guns I own. She know the proper grips/stances and how to make them function. However, her live fire experiance is limited to a few hundred rounds of .22 from a revolver and a magazine or 2 in my Sigma .40 and Glock 10mm. Out of the few round she did fire, they were all very accurate and quite controled...even with full powered 10mm defence ammo. When I'm sitting around cleanig my guns or something I'll sneak in a few dry fire leasons on sight picture, presentation, grip, etc..so I wasnt too suprised that she could hit well (given the eqivilent of 10-12 NRA basic pistol classes taken in our living room..lol). She comented that the recoil was way less than she imagined and not at all uncomfortable..but you could tell she just want having fun. I'm confident that in a bad situation she would know when to deploy a gun and how to use it effetively. Please note..she dosn't carry. But I keep a loaded gun in the car and of cource in the house. What I want to know, is how can I work around her timid nature towards guns? A really good set of earmuffs helped, but I found out that its not the noise or recoil that scares her. Its the gun itself that is intimidating. Some have suggested getting her a smaller, prettier, pocket style gun. To me this is like learning to eat for the first time with chop-sticks. I think a small gun, while less intimidating to look at, would be more so when it came to live fire.
I apreciate any advice you guys can give. I think it may just be a matter of time though. I tought my friends GF (who had never fired a gun and thought they should all be banned..period) how to shoot last weekend. She is quite proficant with my Carbon-15 and Glock pistols (her fav's) and hooked for life now. Her and my wife are good friends, and I think the estrogen challenge will soon end her timidness.