tomrkba
Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2010
- Messages
- 2,370
I believe the advice given was not very good; at least it was incomplete (which is worse). First, he suggested a revolver. While this is a fine choice in and of itself, the odds are she will buy a snub nosed revolver. THR knows that the snubby revolver is a difficult gun to master. Furthermore, I suspect that the lady will buy the lightest snub nosed revolver around, which is one of the Air Lite S&W J-Frame models. Do you see where I am going with this? She's going to fire five rounds of 38 Special +P (because a gun store guy told her to buy +P because "it's more effective") and all five rounds are going to be painful. She is then going to look at her target, see very few hits and wonder why she bought "the thing" in the first place.
Is it any wonder why so many women get turned off of handgun shooting?
Here is what you should have said (paraphrased):
1) Handgun shooting, especially for defense involves quite a few skills.
2) Learning to shoot a handgun for defense requires a certain type of gun. Such guns need to fully fill the hand, have a longer barrel (usually in the 4-5" range), have clear sights, and a good trigger.
3) Any service grade handgun will do the job. The first gun should be no smaller than a Glock 19 or an S&W K-Frame in 38 Special with three or four barrel.
4) Learning to run the gun is essential. This requires training, either through a series of one hour lessons at the range or a formal two to four day defensive handgun class.
5) Running a revolver is more difficult than running a semi-automatic. The basic manual of arms of the revolver is more simple, but the double action trigger pull of the modern revolver can be difficult to manage--especially if a lady's hand strength is not up to the task! Again, proper instruction in the skills needed for self-defense, from the beginning, is essential.
6) A gun need not be bought immediately. Instruction should be acquired first. Many instructors will have many handguns available for her to test.
7) Give the lady the cards of several local instructors. Walk her over to the gun store clerk. Explain the situation to the clerk to get them involved. They may have the name of a trainer they like or an in-house person who works at their range.
Is it any wonder why so many women get turned off of handgun shooting?
Here is what you should have said (paraphrased):
1) Handgun shooting, especially for defense involves quite a few skills.
2) Learning to shoot a handgun for defense requires a certain type of gun. Such guns need to fully fill the hand, have a longer barrel (usually in the 4-5" range), have clear sights, and a good trigger.
3) Any service grade handgun will do the job. The first gun should be no smaller than a Glock 19 or an S&W K-Frame in 38 Special with three or four barrel.
4) Learning to run the gun is essential. This requires training, either through a series of one hour lessons at the range or a formal two to four day defensive handgun class.
5) Running a revolver is more difficult than running a semi-automatic. The basic manual of arms of the revolver is more simple, but the double action trigger pull of the modern revolver can be difficult to manage--especially if a lady's hand strength is not up to the task! Again, proper instruction in the skills needed for self-defense, from the beginning, is essential.
6) A gun need not be bought immediately. Instruction should be acquired first. Many instructors will have many handguns available for her to test.
7) Give the lady the cards of several local instructors. Walk her over to the gun store clerk. Explain the situation to the clerk to get them involved. They may have the name of a trainer they like or an in-house person who works at their range.
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