Wife's newly aqquired HCP

[Deerbnb]

Any words from the other ladies here to aid my wife in getting comfortable with her HCP and maybe ACTUALLY carrying at times or at least in her vehicle while commuting. I have been CC'ing for a while now on a daily basis and want to make sure she has the ability to protect herself should the need ever arise. She has no qualms about long guns at all, has her own shotgun and hunts from time to time with me. However she is a bit of a nervous Nellie when it comes to handguns. She is not a member on here but looks over my shoulder from time to time and I can get her to read your responses.

Thank You

[Guest Anadais]

Umm tell her sign up.. we need more women around here!

I love my long guns, I grew up with them, they have always had a purpose.. but handguns are a different beast, and starting out I was a little nervous too.. The only thing that is going to help her become more comfortable is time and proficiency.

Like with most things, practice makes perfect

[PackinMama]

I've been carrying a handgun for almost 20 years and used them for sport and home defense long before that. I absolutely HATE when I see that a woman has been the target of a violent crime and didn't have any means to protect herself. There is just no excuse and really no need for a woman to be completely helpless against an attack.....especially if she has children to protect as well.

My advice to any woman is to get familiar with handling, shooting, and carrying a handgun. Get your permit and find a gun that you will be comfortable carrying ON YOUR PERSON. The key to feeling comfortable carrying a handgun is knowing that gun inside and out. Know how it shoots and put plenty rounds through it. Know how to clear a jam if the need arises, know how to take it apart and clean it, know it like it's an extension of your hand. The world is a bad place and we do not need to be helpless victims when we have the ability to carry a gun.

Hope that helps!

(Btw, even Jesus told His disciples to "sell your cloak and buy a sword" when He sent them out to preach the gospel. I'm sure that if they'd made guns back then, Jesus would have said "buy a gun!" )

Edited July 25, 2011 by PackinMama

[Guest lrm57]

I'll need to speak for my wife since she is at work right now. I agree with PackinMama. Being familiar with the firearm and shooting it frequently helps tremendously!! Join an indoor firing range and go there as often as possible. My wife and I go to our local range once a week. Also have your wife start out carrying her firearm for short periods of time. Soon she will be so accustomed to its presence that she will feel odd without it. My wife and I have owned firearms for many years and since I carry a pistol constantly ( because I can!! ) she has become at ease with the idea.

[Guest sheepy]

I have to tell you that I understand... I got my permit in the mail a few weeks ago, and I just don't think about grabbing my pistol when I leave. Part of it is that it's not a habit, the other part is simply the uncertainty of being confident that I'm "allowed" to carry it every place I plan on stopping when I'm doing my errands. For instance, I can see myself totally forgetting I'm carrying it and walking into the post office - not a good thing. So... it's still in my range bag, and I take the range to practice every week, but I just don't carry it on me. With the post office being on my weekly "errand list", I need to just retrain my mind I suppose.

[QuietDan]

My wife got considerably more comfortable about me carrying when I bought a low-profile gun safe to tie down in the back of the vehicle, so there's a really safe place to put it when we go in someplace where a pistol's not welcome.

*****

I was in a gun store a while back when a woman - a mother - was buying a pistol and had found one she really liked. She had small children at home, and almost didn't buy it out of 'safety' concerns. Yeah, I know. She really wanted to keep her children safe, from bad guys and from their own prying fingers.

Anyways, the subject of a gun safe came up, the store had them in stock but not on display, and I went out to my car to get mine and show it to her. Me and the gun store sales guy watched her relax considerably when she saw the gun safe, smallish in size with the rounded corners, like a steel jewelry box, it's the type with the hand-print four buttons.

She would not have bought the pistol without buying the gun safe at the same time. In sales I think it's called 'closing on a minor point.' It's also called 'additional dealer profit - ADP.'

I imagine some gun store folks should just about offer one up as a part of any handgun deal for a woman (not to be sexist here or anything). If they ever made them with a quality Oak or Cherry or Mahogany finish, they'd be snapped up. It'd make a pretty fine jewelry box . . . sometimes beautiful really does matter.

Maybe paint one up pretty with . . . what, durocoat paint in bright red, or pink? Hey, Mother's Day present!

http://www.gunvault.com/handgun-safes/microvault.html

Edited September 6, 2011 by QuietDan