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quidni wrote: 2 questions:

1 - did she help pick the pistol out? (if not, are you sure it will fit her hand comfortably enough that she won't hate practicing with it?)

2 - would she be interested in talking with (or going shooting with) another woman either with/without the menfolk along? (I ain't the world's best shot, but I've had my CHL since 2004 & can use any excuse to hit the range to practice...)

Hi quidni,

No, she did not help pick the Ruger, it is a surprise. I kinda wanted to just tell her she was getting a gun and let her pick it out, but she is really new to the whole world of shooting. She had never even seen a gun in real life until her sister started dating a police officer. She is still scared of them, but she is starting to get better.
I would love for her to make some shooting friends! She is a painfully shy person and I think it would be healthy for her to join some clubs, and if shooting is involved, all the better.
I find out if I did a good job on Christmas morning I suppose!

thanks for this post SIA.
This is an important topic, but it is not just about being familiar with guns and shooting in general. As SIA noted, there have been instances where LEO's have had trouble using another officer's gun. We tend to train day in and day out with the same weapon. If we ever have to use it, we need to know it well enough that we don't even think about the operation and only about our tactics. Take our normal carry away, replace it with something we have never handled before, shoot our adrenaline through the roof, and the situation is very different. It ain't a day at the range you know.
I have a wide variety of handguns, and have introduced my wife to shooting. She thinks it is fun, but doesn't take it very seriously as far a self-defense. I am working on that. This Christmas she is getting her own gun. I went down and picked up a Ruger LCR with laser grips to be her bedside gun. Hopefully, when she agrees to get her CHL, this can be her carry. The only pistol of mine which she will currently shoot is my walther TPH in .22lr, so the 38+p is going to be a big upgrade and about as far as she will be willing to go.
This is what she will practice with and shoot with every time we go out so that if she ever needs a weapon she won't be fumbling through my safe trying to figure out which pistol to grab or how to use it.