Girlfriend is hesitant about going to the shooting range...

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You won't force her to do anything she doesn't want. Take your time. If your girlfriend doesn't go to the range, your wife (future) absolutly won't go.
I'd also recommend that someone who is "anti" gun, doesn't own or have access to a gun, because a BG will simply take it away from them and use it on them.
Thirdly, I'm not sure if I'd want a girlfriend with a gun................she might win all the arguements.
 
think the first thing I'm going to do when I'm teaching her safety at my house before we go is to set the gun down and ask her, "If you needed this gun, and wanted to turn the safety off to fire it, what would you press?" I'm betting she's going to point to the magazine release, because there IS no manual safety on my M&P.
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Making her feel stupid is a great strategy. Then she'll really, really be interested!

Tricking her is not the way to earn her trust or respect. Basically your lesson teaches her not to trust you or what you say about guns - you told her to look for the safety when there isn't one. If you hadn't told her to look for the safety, she would have done the right thing. So you trick and humiliate her, and you expect her to what? Trust you?

My suggestion is that you invite her to take NRA basic safety class together. Combine it with a lunch/dinner date. Take the class, go out to dinner and talk about it.

Mike
 
"I don't know... we'll talk about it later,
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We all no what that means.


We'll talk about it later = No


Just keep working on her, do something for her and then she'll have to return the favor.


.
 
"If you needed this gun, and wanted to turn the safety off to fire it, what would you press?" I'm betting she's going to point to the magazine release, because there IS no manual safety on my M&P.
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This is a bad question. What's the purpose of it? To display her lack of knowledge? It's a trick question, with little chance (perhaps zero) her getting it right.

Maybe have the wife go to one of those all-women instruction classes with a NRA instructor.

And considering a .22 (semi-auto or revolver) is probably a good idea.

Good luck. One more thing: Don't rush it. Don't forget, the conditioning that has made her averse to anything gun-related is counter-balanced by her desire to please you.
 
Yeah... here in IL, especially up north toward Chicago, some people have the "rely on the government", self-defense is evil, victim mentality. Some people are ignorant of guns, so they fear them.

I wish I could carry a gun in this state.
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Fixed it for 'ya.
 
You can always do my method and buy her some private instruction. Lost a perfectly good Buckmark that way. Oh well she is worth it.
 
Do you have any mutual friends who are couples that shoot?

Thats how i got my wife to the range. My friend and his wife were in town from florida, and we planned to go to the range together, we invited my wife, and once my wife found out that his wife liked going to the range, she came along.

I cant say she really enjoyed the experience overall, mainly because it was an indoor range and she hated the smells and noise. But she actually had a decent time shooting. First time out she shot 9mm, .38 special +p and 357 magnum.
 
+1 on the professional instruction.

Singing us up for a Handgun101 class was the best thing I ever did. When she realized that half the participants were moms, grandmas, and college girls, she realized this isn't a "crazed redneck thing."
 
I have brought several girls to the range and most of them took quite a bit of prompting. But, after the initial fear they like it. Who can deny that all that power in your hand is not pleasing...
 
See if there's an NRA Women on Target Clinic in your area. They are inexpensive and geared for exactly this type of situation.
The clinic provides everything - .22 rifles and/or pistols, ammo, targets, eyes&ears, etc. Your lady just needs to show up. There is one instructor per student, so everyone gets individual attention. In our clinics, we optionally let them try centerfire pistols and shotguns once they've gotten familiar with the .22s.

http://www.nrahq.org/women/isc/clinics.asp
 
+1 on the professional instruction.

Singing us up for a Handgun101 class was the best thing I ever did. When she realized that half the participants were moms, grandmas, and college girls, she realized this isn't a "crazed redneck thing."
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In addition, it may be that the professional knows more about teaching gun safety than you - and maybe even more about gun safety than a non-professional.

I know it's hard to conceive of such a possibility, since every man pops out of the womb as the world's foremost expert on all things gun related. I expect springmom (and others) would suggest that possession of one Y chromosome is more highly correlating with thinking you know everything about guns than it is with actually knowing everything about guns. :)

The other thing is that the professional will likely have more props. When I took the safety course, the guy had blue plastic revolvers and 1911's to hand around the class as teaching aids. Some nervous folks were very comfortable handling those.

Mike
 
Agreed! And the fact that the instructor is simply not the husband seems to lend itself to a "willingness to listen" too. :rolleyes:
 
+1 on the Women on target idea. Going with other people might help as well -- do you have any friends/couples you hang out with that you could invite? Two other possible ideas:
1. It might be a good idea to focus on the target / plinking idea rather than self-defense. Putting holes in cans might be a bit less intimidating than the SD issue her parents probably discussed
2. Since all you're doing is getting comfortable, a 22 revolver might be a good rental idea. They're simple to operate and familiar. Believe it not, the slide operation on an autoloader can be a bit surprising to a brand new shooter. Also, firing in single action allows her to take the final step of cocking the hammer only when she is ready -- then the SA trigger is really easy, too.

I learned on a 22 target rifle and 22 revolver -- very easy first step.
 
SlipperyShooter had a great idea. My wife doesn't like to learn ANYTHING from me the first time. You should have seen us going out to learn golf, fishing, etc. Sooo many opportunities for "miscommunication."
 
If she is that frightened of guns in general may I suggest that a Ruger Bearcat .22 revolver in stainless with wood grips is probably the least intimidating, friendliest-looking, most "good guy" vibe emitting gun in existence?

I'm not all that fond of shooting revolvers myself, but I think that little "cowboy" gun is probably ideal for introducing timid newbies to shooting. Its small enough for even the smallest hands to get a good hold of, presents no confusion of mysterious buttons and levers, and, being single action, is highly controllable from a safety perspective since it requires several active choices to make it go bang.

If she fears recoil and noise, how about an air pistol to shoot .bbs until she is confident about the safety fundamentals?
 
the slide operation on an autoloader can be a bit surprising to a brand new shooter.
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My DD, who is not the least bit afraid of guns, dislikes shooting semi-autos because she can't stand having the slide whooshing in her face.
 
I've introduced a few women to shooting with a Single Six. It's looks are unintimidating, it's fun to shoot, and the single action encourages them to take their time with every shot. After shooting .22LR for a while we step up to the .22WMR.

So far, a good time has been had by all!

Jeff
 
I've introduced a few women to shooting with a Single Six. It's looks are unintimidating, it's fun to shoot, and the single action encourages them to take their time with every shot. After shooting .22LR for a while we step up to the .22WMR.
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My reason for suggesting the Bearcat rather than its big brother is that the reach to the hammer on a Single Six is a bit of a stretch for we small-handed, short-thumbed people.

I certainly can cock a Single Six, but I have to shift my grip then re-assume my grip. :)
 
Buckmark pistol is pretty good for a first .22 pistol.

Can't go wrong with the 10/22 for a rifle
 
My favorite 2 guns were named

Any bolt action 22 rifle for a first session, savage is my choice because of its price vs quality out of the box and a single shot is best of all. Next is the 22 revolver, the single six is my high recommendation for the same reason, it will shoot more accurately than you will ever need. It isn't a handful to operate and being single action like the bolt action it is inherently safer and easy to understand.

New shooter, bolt action 22 and I don't care if its a 12 year old or a strapping 6' 200# 30 year old. shoot the mouse gun till the fundamentals are ingrained then move up. I like fruit, cookies like sugar wafers, vitamin pill bottles filled with sand or water, all are good. If it isn't fun there won't be a return trip to the range and that's a loss. If your range doesn't allow the above mentioned targets try balloons taped to the front of the target, still reactive and minimal mess to clean up. Water balloons even better.
 
Explain to her that having a fear of anything, including guns, is simply a lack of understanding, kinda like racism. Just because you don't understand it and possibly won't need to doesn't mean it's evil and should be destroyed.

Note: this does not include spiders. *shiver*
 
Another recommendation: take her to the range when it is not busy.

My wife finally agreed to go to the range for the first time. I had a Ruger 22/45 in 22 cal at hand. The indoor range was packed and the man two lanes down was shooting 44 mag. Even before we went in, she was tensing up as she heard the THUMP, THUMP of the 44. She took about 5 shots, then ran out of the range area to wait in the car. The big bangers were just too much when combined with the cacophony of guns going off all around her. She has never gone back.
That range trip was on a Saturday, a big day at the range. I'm willing to bet that the experience would have turned out differently if we had gone on a week day when it wasn't busy.

Ron
 
All this is great advice, and I must agree about boosting her confidence and not putting her down. As I have said in previous posts I have been at the range next to Ike Turner and it is no fun for the girl or anyone around.My now fiancee shot her .22 for over a year before she shot a centerfire handgun, I would always ask and she would always decline and then one day she said o.k. and I would load a single .38 and let her shoot then reload it and she would. shoot again.

P.S.-Her first centerfire was a S&W model 19 I got from .45Badger who also gave great advice in this thread. Thanks again .45Badger I love that revolver...
 
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