My wife finally gets it...

[TonyB]

Yesterday my wife says "I finally get the whole "gun thing".."
Now she's not anti..in fact she's VERY pro gun..but isn't "into them"...I have my CCW and carry all the time.(except work..another story)..anyway,she's home alone,upstairs in our computer room...on the computer when she hears what she thinks is someone working the knob on the front door....she realizes there is no gun up there(my daughter and her air head friends hang out up there alot,so I keep the guns in the safe downstairs)she starts to panic..she realizes she's defensless and her only option is to hide....but she goes to see where the sound is coming from...turns out it's my daughter's hampster on his little wheele thing......I glad it wasn't a BG, and that my wife learned a lesson the easy way.....she's now thinking about getting her permit.

 

[griz]

Yep, that's the catch. In order to have it when you need it, you have to have it when you don't need it too. Maybe an answer to the inevitble "why do you need that" is I don't need it right now.

You do know you will be singlehandedly responsible for the next which gun for hampster defence thread, dont you?

 

[duckslayer]

You do know you will be singlehandedly responsible for the next which gun for hampster defence thread, dont you?

As funny as that sounds, I wouldn't be surprised if it came up! I think someone here wanted a .270 load for squirrel, so since a hampster is smaller I think you could safely go down to 25-06

Tony,

It took my wife a while to come around as well. Nothing like a little scare for them to see the light! I'm glad it turned out to be nothing though.

 

[RavenVT100]

I had an argument the other night with my wife as well. She is very pro gun and even has a pistol of her own, but she is not very pro-CCW. She thinks that it is dangerous to let every Tom, Dick, and Harry roam around armed, but I don't really have as much of a problem with that as she does. I recognize that most people who CCW have some level of formal training (either voluntary or mandated depending on the state) and have passed their background check. She takes the traditional approached from where she was raised, i.e. "why would you need to have a weapon just going to the supermarket?" or "would you want such-and-such to have a gun, as nutty as that person is?" She also seems to think the police have an infallible level of training and that is why it is ok for the police to carry off duty but not mere mortals.

I wish I could help her to understand my position, but it gets really hard sometimes.

 

[pax]

She takes the traditional approached from where she was raised, i.e. "why would you need to have a weapon just going to the supermarket?" or "would you want such-and-such to have a gun, as nutty as that person is?"

Raven ~

Keep one eye on the paper. Next time there is an account of someone being mugged outside a grocery store (or whatever), mention it to your wife and ask, "What would you have done?"

This is important: Do not preach. Do not tell her what she should have done if she were the person attacked. Just ask her the question, and let her answer it. Then drop the subject.

Keep asking the question every time there's something like that in the paper or on the news. "What would you have done? How would you have handled it?"

Bite your tongue as hard as you must in order to avoid answering the question for her. She has to answer it herself. More than that, she has to get to the place where she asks it herself.

At some point, she will realize that yelling for help and calling 911 will not work in a lot of situations ... and that people get attacked in a lot of unlikely places.

pax

 

[duckslayer]

Good advice pax.

 

[dav]

That is good advice Pax... except...

my wife is perfectly willing to say that carrying a gun, or having one rapidly available in the house is a good idea. But she comes right out and admits she would rather live with her head in the sand than admit the possibility she is in danger.

The anxiety level of admitting danger and preparing for it outweigh the benefits of being prepared, to her.

Since she admits that, nagging her about her being in constant danger would be a pretty cruel thing to do.

While some would argue that it would be an example of 'tough love', when I consider our circumstances (age, location, activities) I think she is probably going to be safe for her lifetime, so I can't convince myself I should be mean to her "for her own good".

 

[admar2]

I know the feeling. my wife is the smartest woman I've ever met, and has alot of "common sense" too, which is something I've occasionally found lacking in "smart" people. Yet I find myself unable to make her understand my rationale for carrying all the time. I've as of yet been unable to convince her, no matter how many times I try and explain it.


maybe I'm just too dumb to explain it.

 

[kimbernut]

The "gun thing"

Great advise,Pax!

Hang in there,admar2, I'm right there with you. Let's stick to our guns,buddy(pun fully intended).
It seems a slow process but they could turn at any time much like Tony B's situation.
My daughter asked me several years ago why I carried everywhere.I tried my best to explain that self defense and defense of family and neighbors is the responsibility of every individual willing to take the challenge.That firearms are the best tool for that purpose but only if they are kept close at hand.

 

[P95Carry]

I am within an ace now of my wife getting hers. I have not badgered her but just made mention now and again .... in particular mentioning how she would be illegal if I left the truck - with her in it and a piece!

Hopefully this week before work, she will drop by the SO and get it - after which she will come out to the range again for some necessary polishing up - she is well competant but if she gains even more self confidence then I'll expect her to carry more often when out and about.

Tony - surprising eh - just a simple something that helps someone think - a bit harder!! Hope Mrs.B goes for her CCW.

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

In theory my wife opposes CCW laws. In reality, she's awfully darn glad that I have a gun when we have to go into certain parts of town, like the parking lot of our grocery store, where there was a rape last fall. She's going to take a beginner handgun course, and if she does well, will go on to get her CCW permit (assuming that A-hole judge Finley's ruling is overturned).

 

[pax]

dav ~

Just to clarify, I was not and do not advocate nagging. Just pointing out that any attempt at discussion should be more along the lines of, "What would you do?" as a serious question, and not at all along the lines of "You really ought to..."

World of difference.

pax