BBroadside
Member
Here's the story in chronological order:
2006 - We meet. She isn't quite anti-gun, but she says she is nervous around handguns. I figure it is because of overexposure to killers on TV, and decide I won't press the matter. (At this point I owned no handguns.)
2007 - By now I have mentioned I have woven references to guns in only a few conversations. It feels natural, and it doesn't seem to make her nervous. Also I mention that I'd like to get back into shooting (I dropped the hobby for a few years due to distraction and lack of disposable $$$).
2008 - We get married. I go shooting once while she's pinned down with work. She has no objection to living in a house filled with my (numerous) gun books and (very few) guns.
2009 - The disposable income situation starts looking decent and I mention a few gun-oriented gifts I want to give myself. She gets herself some toys too - sewing machine, etc.
2010 - I get myself Daphne. She's my vintage Enfield 38. My wife takes a surprising interest in the new revolver. We both check out the revolver's ergonomics and do some dry-firing. (Earlier today, we see a picture of a Ruger 10/22 someone is raffling off. She says, "Oh, that's the one you want for Appleseed!" I'm thinking, 'Whoa, she was paying attention!')
Today, I hear about a friend going "hunting clay pigeons" with his Ruger 22 pistol and some friends. (That means setting them up on the wall of a sand pit. I'd never thought of that. Some of the gents were shooting skeet and they leant us a few.) She says it would be fun to "tag along and watch the men-folk shoot".
... At that point I knew I had her. I could just tell she'd be itching to try it herself.
Those clever little pigeons are very hard to hit. The will to live in a clay disc is tremendous, plus the blaze orange is pretty hard to pick out on gray sand from 20 yards. But seriously, the range was a little ambitious for shooting the handgun for the first time, non-standard ammo, fixed sites. We both got one pigeon, she on her first cylinder, me on my third. (She didn't even point at me and laugh!) She also tried the Ruger, which bit her on the hand once.
We had a blast. She enjoyed it more, probably because I was self-conscious about the boys thinking (correctly) that I am city dude used to firing Glocks and S&Ws at indoor ranges, and that I'm way out of practice. The boys deserve some credit for turning her around - none of them was drunk or obnoxious.
Next step will be to go back out with Hanka (my CZ 22 rifle, with a scope) and show her how easy rifle shooting is.
So there you have it. I'm into shooting, she's into making quilts, baking cookies, and shooting.
2006 - We meet. She isn't quite anti-gun, but she says she is nervous around handguns. I figure it is because of overexposure to killers on TV, and decide I won't press the matter. (At this point I owned no handguns.)
2007 - By now I have mentioned I have woven references to guns in only a few conversations. It feels natural, and it doesn't seem to make her nervous. Also I mention that I'd like to get back into shooting (I dropped the hobby for a few years due to distraction and lack of disposable $$$).
2008 - We get married. I go shooting once while she's pinned down with work. She has no objection to living in a house filled with my (numerous) gun books and (very few) guns.
2009 - The disposable income situation starts looking decent and I mention a few gun-oriented gifts I want to give myself. She gets herself some toys too - sewing machine, etc.
2010 - I get myself Daphne. She's my vintage Enfield 38. My wife takes a surprising interest in the new revolver. We both check out the revolver's ergonomics and do some dry-firing. (Earlier today, we see a picture of a Ruger 10/22 someone is raffling off. She says, "Oh, that's the one you want for Appleseed!" I'm thinking, 'Whoa, she was paying attention!')
Today, I hear about a friend going "hunting clay pigeons" with his Ruger 22 pistol and some friends. (That means setting them up on the wall of a sand pit. I'd never thought of that. Some of the gents were shooting skeet and they leant us a few.) She says it would be fun to "tag along and watch the men-folk shoot".
... At that point I knew I had her. I could just tell she'd be itching to try it herself.
Those clever little pigeons are very hard to hit. The will to live in a clay disc is tremendous, plus the blaze orange is pretty hard to pick out on gray sand from 20 yards. But seriously, the range was a little ambitious for shooting the handgun for the first time, non-standard ammo, fixed sites. We both got one pigeon, she on her first cylinder, me on my third. (She didn't even point at me and laugh!) She also tried the Ruger, which bit her on the hand once.
We had a blast. She enjoyed it more, probably because I was self-conscious about the boys thinking (correctly) that I am city dude used to firing Glocks and S&Ws at indoor ranges, and that I'm way out of practice. The boys deserve some credit for turning her around - none of them was drunk or obnoxious.
Next step will be to go back out with Hanka (my CZ 22 rifle, with a scope) and show her how easy rifle shooting is.
So there you have it. I'm into shooting, she's into making quilts, baking cookies, and shooting.