Wife needs a gun

[mljdeckard]

There is a trend with new female shooters to steer them towards tiny guns. Men think that if they LOOK less intimidating, they will be more willing to use it. The truth is, smaller guns are harder to shoot. They are shorter, which gives them a shorter sight radius and makes them more difficult to aim. They have less mass, which means they will have more felt recoil. It is a stereotype that doesn't make women safer or enjoy shooting more. There is nothing wrong with a mid-size Glock.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

mljdeckard, while in some cases your statement is true, it's not in all cases. Sometimes, such as in my wife's case, small hands equal the need for smaller framed handguns. Now, while my wife CAN shoot my full sized firearms, she is not as comfortable with them as she is with her smaller handguns. There is a HUGE difference between firing at a paper target and firing while under pressure of an attack. You want whatever is THE MOST comfortable in your hands and whatever you are THE MOST confident with. She has to think to shoot my full sized 1911's but with her little P232 she just bangs away comfortably. If she were to have to face off with an aggressor, I would much rather her have something that she KNOWS she can put a magazine full of rounds into the chest without having to even think about anything. Plus, even men will tell you, if it's uncomfortable as hell, they are NOT going to carry it. Personally, I would much rather her carry what she is most confident with than not carry anything. If that happens to be a .380, then that is by far better than her little 5 foot tall 110 pound frame having to face down a 6 foot 220 pound aggressor with her fingernail file!

 

[mljdeckard]

Adjust your lifestyle to fit the gun you shoot best. Not the other way around.

If that's what she shoots best....go ahead, whatever. But there is a difference between; "This is what she shoots best" and "She shoots this because either out of intimidation or bad advice, she has convinced herself that she can't handle anything else or something would be too uncomfortable, and she is unwilling to work to learn how to use something better."

Is it possible to find someone who handles and shoots tiny guns better? I suppose. I'm not there, how could I possibly know? But I would make sure one of my students had every opportunity to try a long list of conventional service pistols before I agreed that she handles tiny guns best. My mom has an injury in her left wrist from a poorly healed fracture. She can't rack a slide on most pistols because she just doesn't have the strength. We have settled on a Walther PK-380 for her, because while it is a blowback operated .380, at least it isn't a micro pistol. She can aim it and handle it well.

But I really wish she could rack the slide on a G-19, Xd-9 compact, M&P compact, etc.