Learning firearms and baby ears

[Guest foister82]

The other night, the lady and I were in bed and heard our jack russell whining at the door like she needed to go relieve herself. She started to get up to take her, but i offered to go and we both ended up going outside.

When we get out in the grass, we notice there is a car parked across the road thats not usually there. The people that live there drive really nice cars, and this car was a beater so it looked a little conspicuous...Also, the security light was on by the garage which is normally caused by some animal walking across the lawn, so we didnt think much of it. Then, we noticed a shadow in the light and upon observing for a few seconds we realized it was a person walking across the back deck. We ducked inside, locking the door as we went. I grabbed my P95, throw a few rounds into a mag as the lady calls her Parents (the house we live in is a duplex, they live in the upper side).

Turns out, it was her stepdad home late for work. The car across the street was a family member of a neighbor. But all in all it was an interesting experience.

It really got me thinking... what happens if i'm not home? As some of you already know, we're expecting in October. Ive been trying to get her to the range to show her how to use the gun itself, but she read on a webpage that going to the gun range while pregnant can cause deafness for the baby so she refuses to go. The baby's health is 100% top priority right now anyway so i that's fine. But, what method can i use to teach her the ins and outs of using the firearm? Snap caps and dry fire? I want to be sure that in the case of an intruder, she can protect herself and the baby.

[poak]

I've always thought airguns were a very viable option.

She can learn basic handling, safety, and marksmanship from an inexpensive air pistol all right in the comfort of your own home.

[Oh Shoot]

... I grabbed my P95, throw a few rounds into a mag ...what method can i use to teach her the ins and outs of using the firearm?..

Not meaning to be unkind, but my first thought is that YOU need some instruction. What are you thinking of, keeping an unloaded firearm as your home "protection"?

- OS

[nightrunner]

x2 it should have been on your hip

[Guest Ggun]

x2 it should have been on your hip

Not many people in the Johnson City area walk around in their yard with a handgun on their hip.

[Guest foister82]

thanks for the input. i do not carry because i do not have a permit. I am following instruction of my LEO brother as well as a good friend who is retired from the service, and their advise is not to keep it loaded until everyone in the home is trained on how to use it. She is not trained. That was the original question.

[Guest Ggun]

snip

But, what method can i use to teach her the ins and outs of using the firearm? Snap caps and dry fire? I want to be sure that in the case of an intruder, she can protect herself and the baby.

Protecting oneself and a baby from an intruder cannot be taught by snap caps and dry fire. Carrying (or having) a gun for defensive purposes is a mindset.

Maybe an alarm system would work better at first if you're worried.

[Oh Shoot]

thanks for the input. i do not carry because i do not have a permit. I am following instruction of my LEO brother as well as a good friend who is retired from the service, and their advise is not to keep it loaded until everyone in the home is trained on how to use it. She is not trained. That was the original question.

You can't "train" her not to touch it until she's competent with it?

If that incident had been a home invasion, there's a decent chance you wouldn't be fretting about this issue. Or anything else, ever.

- OS

[Guest foister82]

Protecting oneself and a baby from an intruder cannot be taught by snap caps and dry fire. Carrying (or having) a gun for defensive purposes is a mindset.

Maybe an alarm system would work better at first if you're worried.

possibly, and there's never really been a problem. We just keep our doors locked. Never had an issue with a break in, lawn intruder or anything.

And guys, im not saying you're wrong. Please dont take it that way. I'm asking if theres a viable way of teaching her how to handle the weapon / manual of arms without physically going to the range and poking holes in paper. She is eager to learn, but she was advised not to live fire until after the baby is born.

[Guest foister82]

You can't "train" her not to touch it until she's competent with it?

If that incident had been a home invasion, there's a decent chance you wouldn't be fretting about this issue. Or anything else, ever.

- OS

you're right, i wouldn't be fretting. and i dont mean to fret now. what im saying is that i have never thought i would need to pack while taking the dog out to pee in my neighborhood. but there are too many news stories to quote that tell me otherwise. Since then, i keep the mag inside the gun unloaded with a fully loaded mag beside it in the box. Its a way for me to keep ammo handy, but to ease her worry that it's gonna "just go bang all by itself" as she says

[TGO David]

FYI -- You and your wife might want to check more on this whole idea that the shooting range causes deafness for infants in utero. My wife is an RN and checked into it pretty heavily when we were expecting last year and the research she did, and the doctor that we both spoke with, bore out that there was actually very little risk to the unborn child so long as the mother doesn't handle lead. Even then the risk can be mitigated by the mother washing her hands thoroughly.

Water is a horrible conductor for sound, and the baby is actually inside a very muffled environment in the womb. If there was really any truth to this, there would be a lot of deaf kids coming from the ghetto from baby's mommas riding around in cars with thundering stereos that routinely hit decibel levels rivaling those of gunfire.

Just something to think about. Your wife/girlfriend/baby-momma needs to do what SHE feels comfortable with, but I suspect some research other than the ridiculously fallible Internet might yield a better answer than "Oh noes don't do it!!!1" or whatever else she may have read.

[Guest foister82]

David i wish you were here to tell her that She's definitely the boss and the boss doesnt like being wrong. Me and her stepdad are going back to the range this weekend.. maybe we can get her to tag along. I know she's eager to shoot the 9mm, especially after shooting the sig mosquito a few months back.

[nightrunner]

just a FYI, you dont need a permit to carry on your property.

[Guest foister82]

oh i know and i will be more often now trust me

I do need a good holster though. Still got a few to look at from the thread in WTB forum

[TGO David]

David i wish you were here to tell her that She's definitely the boss and the boss doesnt like being wrong. Me and her stepdad are going back to the range this weekend.. maybe we can get her to tag along. I know she's eager to shoot the 9mm, especially after shooting the sig mosquito a few months back.

She might want to ask her own OB/GYN about this. The analogy our doctor used was that he has had expectant mothers who worked around heavy machinery in factories and around jet airliners on the flight line at Nashville BNA airport... and those all are extremely noisy environments. The babies were no worse for the wear.

Again, just let her do what she feels safest doing. You're outnumbered at least 2:1 anytime you argue with a pregnant woman.

[Guest GT_Rat]

Water is a horrible conductor for sound

Actually water is a spectacular conductor for sound. Better than air even. Sound travels much farther in water than it does in air. That's why sonar works. That said I still agree there would be more danger to handling the lead of bullets than the actual sound. There is not enough sound that would be transferred between the air and the water in the body to cause problems.

Still that's not going to assuage a pregnant wife. Even a minuscule chance is enough reason for the mom to be to decide to avoid it.

[Mark@Sea]

To answer the original question, dryfire is an excellent method for learning trigger control. Dryfire with a laser works very well - you can see when you are jerking the trigger.

[saintsfanbrian]

How about a .22. Those aren't much louder than a cap pistol.

Go outside of the city limits and find some public land and fire away.

[Guest foister82]

To answer the original question, dryfire is an excellent method for learning trigger control. Dryfire with a laser works very well - you can see when you are jerking the trigger.

good idea... they have a BSA weaver style laser at wally world for like $20

[G27]

Water is a horrible conductor for sound, and the baby is actually inside a very muffled environment in the womb.

Actually, water is 7x more efficient at transmitting acoustic energy than air.

[Oh Shoot]

... Since then, i keep the mag inside the gun unloaded with a fully loaded mag beside it in the box....

What's the logic with that?

If you're going to keep it unloaded, why add to deployment time by having to first pull out an empty mag?

Two loaded mags alongside a gun is still an unloaded gun. With more rounds available if necessary.

...She's definitely the boss ...

Ah, you've finally admitted the crux of the problem.

- OS

[TGO David]

Actually water is a spectacular conductor for sound. Better than air even. Sound travels much farther in water than it does in air. That's why sonar works. That said I still agree there would be more danger to handling the lead of bullets than the actual sound. There is not enough sound that would be transferred between the air and the water in the body to cause problems.

Still that's not going to assuage a pregnant wife. Even a minuscule chance is enough reason for the mom to be to decide to avoid it.

You know... I didn't even think about that. Huh. Our doctor was a moron!

[Fallguy]

Actually water is a spectacular conductor for sound. Better than air even. Sound travels much farther in water than it does in air. That's why sonar works. That said I still agree there would be more danger to handling the lead of bullets than the actual sound. There is not enough sound that would be transferred between the air and the water in the body to cause problems.

Still that's not going to assuage a pregnant wife. Even a minuscule chance is enough reason for the mom to be to decide to avoid it.

Actually, water is 7x more efficient at transmitting acoustic energy than air.

Hmmmm...wonder why NASA uses warter to muffle the sound of rocket launches then?

See the T-00M16S mark Space Shuttle Launch Countdown

NASA - Sound Suppression Test Unleashes a Flood

[G27]

Hmmmm...wonder why NASA uses warter to muffle the sound of rocket launches then?

The water is simply absorbing the acoustic energy instead of allowing it to reflect back towards the shuttle off the pad - high energy transmission is why we use lots of things to direct energy dispersion.

Think about what most cooking pans are made of...

There are an absolutely stunning amount of links showing water's more efficient transmission of acoustic energy all over the web. It varies according to the medium's temperature and density, but even warm fresh water is several times more efficient than air wrt acoustic energy transmission.

[Fallguy]

The water is simply absorbing the acoustic energy instead of allowing it to reflect back towards the shuttle off the pad - high energy transmission is why we use lots of things to direct energy dispersion.

Sounds good enough to me...