Wife doesn't want to shoot

[zky]

Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but I would like her to go to the range with me and my sons sometime to shoot some .22's.

Any ideas on how to encourage her to join us just so she can be more comfortable around guns? Thanks.

 

[wtfd661]

Don't pressure her to go. My wife wouldn't go for 22 yrs, but I finally got her to go on a weekday (when I knew it wouldn't be crowded), I asked her to go just to spend some time with me. Once we got there I offered her a 9mm to shoot, which she declined. I then took the time to explain everything I was doing. As I was packing up to leave, she asked me if she could try shooting. She did great shooting the Glock 26 and I told her how proud of her I was. She was so excited she made sure to take her target home to show our 14 yr old son.

 

[jmiller676]

Tell her you'll take her shopping, that's what I did with my girlfriend. She liked shooting and yes I ended up paying for it. But, take your time patience is the key.

 

[pute62]

My wife was the same way till she started hitting cans with a 22, now she loves to shoot. She likes it so much she divorced me and took my guns with her.

 

[rambone]

My wife was the same way till she started hitting cans with a 22, now she loves to shoot. She likes it so much she divorced me and took my guns with her.

NOOOOOO!!!


I think its helpful to emphasize that you want her to know what to do if she has to do to defend herself if she is alone and trouble strikes. She needs to know how to use the gun in the night stand. There's no shortage of horror stories in the news to convince her that bad things happen.

 

[IndyGunSafety]

If you live anywere near Indy send her to me, lol! If you can convince her to take a basic pistol course for the purpose of simply getting information, that tends to work. Ask her to keep an open mind and take the class, and tell her she doesn't even have to shoot if she doesn't want to. (but she will after 8 hours of classroom handling and dry firing!) If she wants you to come along, fine. If not, try to respect that.

I have had a few people even go so far as to tell their spouse "Get the information. If you still don't like it when you're done you won't hear any more about it." That's a bit of a gamble but once they get in a class and get GOOD information and EXPERIENCE from somebody OTHER than their spouse they tend to do quite well.

Send her to A little Secret Courage, which leads to my main site. Also, Cornered Cat has more of a woman's perspective as well.

I can't promise I can turn her around but I can say I have had great success in doing so thus far. (At least I've never gotten the "Dude what did you do? My wife is making me sell my guns!" phone call, lol!) Any PATIENT, PROFESSIONAL instructor can help you. I thrive in this area.

Remember, all of the safety rules for handguns apply to rifles and airguns. So if you are plinking with a rifle the course will still be a great foundation of safety and confidence for her. Good luck and let us know how it works out!

 

[stilllearning09]

Do you know if she has any friends that shoot? I've talked with a couple of "non-shooting" friends about guns. They became curious, especially when they found out why I choose to be able to protect myself. We went for lunch and shoot. They now are hand gun owners, too!

 

[Jay]

....ask her if she would come out and take pictures of you and the boys shooting. You can't take pics and be in them. Be safe to the point of being anal, and once she sees that nobody gets shot or blown up, she may be more inclined to participate.

Just a thought....

 

[Adrenaline]

My wife was the same way till she started hitting cans with a 22, now she loves to shoot. She likes it so much she divorced me and took my guns with her.

That is possibly one of the worst things I have ever heard...my ex was not a good person at all, and I let him have all his guns back.

And as for your wife not wanting to shoot, just make is seem relaxed, let her know all the safety precautions and let her think about it as a protection device. I have always liked guns and shooting, but have only recently thanks to my man gotten caught up in trying to learn as much as I can about it. A little sweet talking, common sense points and I am sure you can win her over to trying it out. And a 22 lr is the way I got started, I loved the no recoil, and it was fun to just go plinking at paper plates. Maybe a really quiet day with very few people at the range would be a good way to start, and just say you want her to learn some gun safety don't ask her to shoot. Say it would be good together time for the two of you and leave the boys at home.

 

[Zoub]

Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but I would like her to go to the range with me and my sons sometime to shoot some .22's.

Any ideas on how to encourage her to join us just so she can be more comfortable around guns? Thanks.

I think how you approach her is based on her pesonality. The basics of learning/training are that not all adults learn the same way.

My GF and I both have professional training experience in our backgrounds. It can be hard for the teacher to be the student. She is a natural athlete, very technical and competitive. I have always put a lot of thought in to how I introduce her to something new. I know how she defines a win. IMHO you need to have about a 90% success rate, same as training a dog.

In the 5 years we have been together she has never had a bad shooting experience. She always leaves onlookers thinking she has been shooting all her life, be it with .45, AR or now with a shotgun.

You say "My Sons" so I assume they are not hers. My GF is always considerate of not cutting in to my time with my Daughter. What she is told is we want to include her and thankfully shooting is something we all share, including Grandma, BUT each was trained one on one without the others present. Give your wife some attention with guns, just the two of you. You invite her to go with just you. The most valuable thing you can give is your time. She will likely respond to that.

 

[circle]

My advice, as the wife of an active member of this forum, is to leave her alone. You could reason with her about the need to shoot a few times a year in order to be able to use it if she needs to. Beyond that, enjoy your hobby and the opportunity to bond with your sons. She most likely enjoys the time she gets to be alone, catch up on housework, talk to friends, etc. I know I look forward to it. And try to find something fun that you both like to do together. For my husband and me, it's biking and exercising.

 

[emclean]

have the kids invite her for a day of family fun.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

You'd be amazed at how quickly she comes around once the floggings begin .

 

[lawrence1139]

My wife did not want to shoot until the last election and see what is happening to the country. She now has her CCW and carries a P32. With 2 young kids she knows she can become an easy target. I have shown her how to use it and that the safest thing to do is be aware of who's around you. She does not keep one in the chamber as it's DAO. It would suck to knock the trigger

 

[bm9mm]

Every girlfriend I have ever had has loved shooting once she tried it and my wife now is an avid shooter. Just take her on a drive out to the country to have some quality time then convieniently bring along a 22 rifle and stop somewhere and put some cans out. Once she hits acouple she will be thrilled. If that doesn't work then your probably out of luck.

 

[IndySKS]

my wife was the same way, and honestly i was as well at first. we went to the range with a trained friend and once we walked through some things we felt a lot better. took two trips for her to warm up but now she's requesting we visit the range more often. baby steps and it will work out fine. things change once that trigger is pulled for the first time.

 

[kludge]

She does not keep one in the chamber as it's DAO. It would suck to knock the trigger

DAO is specifically designed so that "knocking the trigger" does not fire the gun, it taked a deliberate trigger squeeze.

At any rate the solution is a holster that covers the trigger.

 

[MACHINEGUN]

I'm glad I do not have that problem.. I get yelled at for not going to the range enough.