Wife wants guns gone; Alternative storage solutions?

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Atom Smasher

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Hey Everybody,

Here's the deal. I have a few guns in the house, nothing ridiculous, just a .22 AR, a shotgun, and a Mosin, with ammo. My wife recently decided that she is uncomfortable with them in the house, to the point where having them around is stressing her out. I've tried to reason with her (there have been no NDs or any other potentially dangerous situation, the guns have remained in the closet, inert, except when I take them out to the range. They remain unloaded and locked when not in use) and while she agrees that there hasn't been any problems, she feels uncomfortable.

Well, bummer. I like my wife, and I'd like to keep her around, but at the same time I don't want to get rid of the guns. So now I'm in a bind- I need a place to store them. Currently we are in the Austin, TX area, and I can't think of a place to store them that doesn't cost me $44 a month (self-storage, plus there's the theft problem).

I don't have any friends I can store the guns with, besides I really don't want to impose on anyone. Can somebody recommend a storage situation in the Austin, TX greater area so I don't have to get rid of the guns? Or the wife? ;)
 
I don't mean to sound crass but it sounds like you (or her) have bigger problems. She needs to deal with it or get help. Removing the guns would only justify her irrational fear, or manipulating.
 
So does the wife know you are wanting to store these offsite? Is she OK with that?

Or are you being dishonest with her and hiding them?

My opinion is that it won't be making things any better by dishonestly hiding them from her. That's just going to cause more problems down the road it would seem.

How do you think she got this way? At some point it must have been OK or you wouldn't have guns in the first place. Something happened to change her mind, seems it would be interesting to find out exactly what that was and try to address it.
 
How long have you been married and did you have the guns before she was married?

Perhaps you can store them at a relative or friends house until you work out your issues.

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk
 
You can send them to me, my wife doesn't care.

Or, you can get a safe or locking cabinet to store them in.

Or, you can tell your wife to deal with it, they're your guns. This is what I would do.
 
Surprised nobody said this yet, but why not take you wife to the range so she can get comfortable with firing the guns. Who knows she might enjoy it and have her irrational fears disappear.

If she doesn't want to do that have her sign up for some sort of safety/training class at your local gun range. Then at least she can get educated about guns and perhaps realize for herself that keeping guns safely in the house poses no risk.
 
I got a gun for my wife--pretty good trade, huh? Seriously, I had the same problem with wife #2. At one point she said they go or she does (I should have listened!) I tried to convince her that her fears were irrational but no success. One weekend when I was working in another part of the State she thought someone was trying to get in the back door. (evidence undicated someone had tried) She retrieved one of my hated guns after ten minutes of struggling with the gunsafe combination. The 911 responders took almost 30 minutes to arrive. End of problem. She finally understood that a gun could protect her as well as be my resented and unwelcome hobby. Kinda like the car insurance policy on the family car and my motorcycle.
 
the guns are not going to jump out of the closet and run around committing crimes. My wife was the same way (was). Started checking loclal news more, so she could read more about break-ins, assaults, robberies and the like. Started taking her to the range and shooting. I came home from work one Friday, the first thing she said was "when do I get my own gun?" She now has a carry permit, 2 .38 sp snubbies, a 20 gua. single shot, a custom made ruger 10/22 (made to fit her, she is 4'9" tall) And various other simi-autos and revolvers. She scored higher in her permit qualification higher then our sheriffs department (all if them!) She actually had a fear of them in the begining, untill she learned, they are merely a tool to be properly used.
 
Are you newly weds and just moving in together?? or young kids involved?

No help for public storage facilities. Im a 2hr drive and would charge you fair use...
 
wife & guns

You can do like I did. I took her to the range and let her shoot some of my guns. Tought her the safty rules. And had a police officer friend of mine come talk to her about what if someone broke in the house. Which would be best have a gun to defend ourselves or not have a gun. And be at the merrcey of the crook which have been known to kill people just for the heck of it. I have a friend he and his wife walked into his house into gun fire from 3 jerks that had broke into his house while they were out to dinner to make a long story 2 died on the sean and the 3 died 2 day later. now if he had not been armed he and his wife would be dead now. all it took for me to change my wifes mind was taking her to the range and having that talk with my cop friend .D Crockett
 
My wife was never around guns at all either before we got married. Later she told me having a handgun on my side of the bed was a safe comforting feeling to her.:)
 
I love the wifey and she knows I love guns and she has come to respect that. Unless there's domestic issues she should also respect your love with guns. I would never tell my wife to give up a loved hobby especially if it made her happy. The wifey knows that the guns aren't going anywhere so she doesn't even try.
 
We are not newlyweds, we've been together for a few years now. She is totally fine with me owning the guns, and was actually pretty enthusiastic about the idea of storing them off-site. So no dishonesty :) I've tried to encourage her to go the range, but she really wants nothing to do with it. After speaking with her further, I found out that there was a drunk <deleted> father-figure in her past that had guns and was slightly abusive, so that could be where a lot of the baggage comes from.

As for the "tell my wife to pound sand" option, not happening. Listen, I love shooting as much as the next guy, but if it came down to guns vs. wife, the guns will go. We have no issues like this with anything else- she even supports my enthusiasm for shooting, and is fine with my going to the range, but it's just the guns-in-the-house issue. Hence the looking for off-site storage. I'll look into the locker at the gun club option, that might work out. Any idea on prices?
 
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My wife was very afraid at first. We went on a few dates to the range and fired everything, so she would know what kicked the most. She also met a nice female gun store associate who walked through a bunch of stuff with her. She has her own pistol now which I must ask permission to handle.

I will surprise her sometimes and hand her a handgun (unloaded) and ask her if it is loaded. She has learned to check them and make them go bang. Don't know how I would handle a complete aversion to such things. Good luck.
 
Atom Smasher
Sounds like its time for the wife to start reading the armed citizen in any of the NRA magazines. That may change her mind. You can not protect your life or hers or your home if you have to run off site to get your weapons. Just my 2 cents.
Dave Z
 
I see no legitimate reason why a good gun safe would not be as safe as storing guns off site somehow, other than her concern is that YOU may use the guns against HER. If that's the case, you've got more problems than just guns. Marriage is a compromise and depends greatly on trust. Your wife needs to trust your capabilities with guns as much as she trusts you to drive her around in the car. They are no more dangerous. If she has this instilled great fear of firearms, I doubt very much if storing them offsite will solve your problem in the longterm. I believe it will only lead to other demands, that will lead you to get rid of all your guns. As you have already stated, you are willing to do this.......maybe this is really the way to go.
 
Was this just a random thing that popped up all the sudden or has she always not wanted them in the house and is just now putting her foot down? If it is a sudden thing I would be trying to figure out what triggered this. You correct that and you may correct the issue.
 
You should get her to define "uncomfortable" - exactly what is she afraid of??

Are there children either yours or others that she is worried about?

Is she afraid you would hurt her?

Getting rid of your guns is not the solution and eventually will become an issue in your marriage. A good safe and possibly some marriage counciling would hopefully make your relationship better than ever.

If that fails you can always trade her off for a 1911 or Garrand.
 
So for her, the best analogy (as stupid as it is) would be abstinence. Like abstinence, with no gun in the house there's zero chance of a gun-related mishap. No sex, no baby. With a gun in the house, even if all safety measures are taken, there is now a non-zero chance of a gun-related mishap (please don't freak out people with the whole "with safety measure there is no chance of an accident etc.). A little sex, even with protection, possibility of a baby.

So for her, no guns in the house is ideal. We're still talking about it, she's given no ultimatums. In fact, for as uncomfortable as this is making her, she's really not being completely unreasonable.
 
I agree with others who suggest talking it through to determine from where her fears originate. Does she feel uncomfortable even talking with you about it?
 
Just a thought. Let her read some of the articles on bad guys breaking into homes and doing rather unpleasant things to the home owners for no other reason that at the time they thought it was cool or fun.

Tell her you love and care for her and as part of those feelings you do not ever want to be in a situation where you can not defend her or your house by every means possible. This is one of the few things men are good for; levity gentlemen!

Sounds like its time for the wife to start reading the armed citizen in any of the NRA magazines. That may change her mind. You can not protect your life or hers or your home if you have to run off site to get your weapons.
Click to expand...

Actual knowledge of our environment is the key so just because we want something to be a certain way does not mean our grasp of reality is correct.
 
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