I had a similar problem while the wife and I were engaged. I have always been a shooter and hunter, she is British and so is her mother. Her father was military and never had much interest in guns due to wanting to be different from his father who was a hunter, shooter, and volunteer police officer in our town before the department was formed. So she had no exposure to firearms until they moved back when she was about 13. We started dating when she was 16 and at that point had never even held a firearm. She went a shot with her grandfather once after I had enlisted, she was proud but expressed no interest beyond curiosity and mild fear. She wanted no guns in the house when we married. I complied but began educating her though having her read articles involving firearms used for defense. Shortly after starting this she admitted to me she would prefer to have a gun in the house for defense as long as it was locked up and unloaded. I again complied, and now began teaching her how to handle it and showing her how to operate the lock box and load it. After a short time she conceded that locked and unloaded was basically useless and had me load it but leave it locked. She then began shooting with me though not regularly. She then became more comfortable with shooting and began going more regularly and began to become more proficient and expressed wanting me to begin carrying while we were out for protection. She has now progressed, in about three years, to the point that this year she told me she wanted her own gun and to get her permit when she turns 21. She even showed me the gun she wanted and told me to buy that for her birthday. She was completely shocked when I brought it home last week and was extremely excited. She will be getting her permit this November.
I know this is an extremely long post but I have been through what the OP is going through and I believe this might be helpful for him. Best of luck to you hopefully your wife will become more comfortable with firearms, and may become one of your frequent range companions; just don’t try and push or show your manliness in this issue.
I know this is an extremely long post but I have been through what the OP is going through and I believe this might be helpful for him. Best of luck to you hopefully your wife will become more comfortable with firearms, and may become one of your frequent range companions; just don’t try and push or show your manliness in this issue.