How do I make my wife comfortable?

[SewTexas]

to add to what has been said....

something my husband said when he started carrying...something I'll never ever forget....OK, I've forgotten the specific words, but I'll never forget the sentiment and emotion...

basically "I love you and our children, no one else can love you more than I can. You were put on this earth for me to protect, it's my job, not anyone else's. God gave me the responsibility, I plan on fulfilling that responsibility to the best of my ability."

to me, his carrying is a statement of his love...
it's why I carry now, I love our children.

[pcgizzmo]

Lots of great input here guys and ladies. Actually today she told me she was talking to her mom on the phone and mentioned something about me being at the gun range and her mother said "I just hate guns". My wife told her that I know how to handle a gun and I was in the Army etc... etc.. and if I wanted to carry a gun she wasn't going to stop me and that she had to pick her battles.

So, I think that's positive head way and I don't think I've really done anything except just have casual conversation about carrying. Not really trying to force the issue with her. Letting her get comfortable with the idea.

[Oldgringo]

Lots of great input here guys and ladies. Actually today she told me she was talking to her mom on the phone and mentioned something about me being at the gun range and her mother said "I just hate guns". My wife told her that I know how to handle a gun and I was in the Army etc... etc.. and if I wanted to carry a gun she wasn't going to stop me and that she had to pick her battles.

...pick her battles?

How does your MIL feel about motorcycles, automobiles, airplanes and backyard swimming pools? Just askin'...

[Iunnrais]

i need to get her a little more proficient at the range before i sign her up for a class.

A wise man does not try to teach his own wife how to shoot.

You are in the Houston area? You need to call up CompVest. She is one of the best pistol instructors ANYWHERE, just happens to also be a lady, is a champion IDPA shooter, charges a whole lot less than her time is worth, AND is in your area. What could possibly be better than that????

Sounds like sage advice to me. I married a Colorado gal myself and she was always rather gun-shy. It's only since our oldest joined her school's JROTC rifle team that she has eased up on her views. Enough so that she hasn't been giving me the old answer of no guns in the house.

I went out to a range in Ft. Worth with a buddy and went through a bunch of ammo with his collection back before Thanksgiving which reminded me of how much I enjoyed shooting (grew up in NW Texas out in the country so it was ingrained from early on). I may have to take you up on the advice as well :)

It'd be nice to have the wife be a little better informed esp. from someone besides myself and my daughter.

[rmr1923]

i need to get her a little more proficient at the range before i sign her up for a class.

A wise man does not try to teach his own wife how to shoot.

You are in the Houston area? You need to call up CompVest. She is one of the best pistol instructors ANYWHERE, just happens to also be a lady, is a champion IDPA shooter, charges a whole lot less than her time is worth, AND is in your area. What could possibly be better than that????

Sounds like sage advice to me. I married a Colorado gal myself and she was always rather gun-shy. It's only since our oldest joined her school's JROTC rifle team that she has eased up on her views. Enough so that she hasn't been giving me the old answer of no guns in the house.

I went out to a range in Ft. Worth with a buddy and went through a bunch of ammo with his collection back before Thanksgiving which reminded me of how much I enjoyed shooting (grew up in NW Texas out in the country so it was ingrained from early on). I may have to take you up on the advice as well :)

It'd be nice to have the wife be a little better informed esp. from someone besides myself and my daughter.

i think what eased my wife's concerns was that the way i educated her about how handguns function sort of took the "mystique" of firearms out of the equation. some people are under the impression that if a gun is loaded (or heck, even unloaded) it can and will fire at any time, regardless of whether you have your finger on the trigger. she doesn't have a CHL but she now keeps a loaded Beretta PX4 Storm Subcompact in the center console of her car at all times - with the safety on and inside a leather IWB holster so the trigger isn't exposed. i'm trying to convince her that she needs to keep the safety off but leave the gun uncocked, because that gun will fire double-action (very heavy double-action trigger pull) on the first round without having to fully cock it. i guess she just feels more comfortable with the safety on, but i've asked her at least a couple times, if you're sitting at a red light and some guy comes up and is banging on the window trying to car jack you, are you going to remember to turn the safety off? i need to get her out to the range to shoot it some more, maybe she just wants to get more comfortable with it first, in fact i might insist that she NOT keep it in the car until she's comfortable enough to keep the safety off. the last thing i want to happen is her to have to draw it on an attacker, start pulling the trigger and nothing happens, then the attacker takes it and uses it on her instead.