My mom, who is 67, recently had her tire slashed by someone who was setting her up to be mugged, beaten and whatever else. Luckily she had run flat tires and instead of being a victim, jumped in her car and made it far enough away to get help.
My dad, who is a complete idiot when it comes to this, still thinks that having a gun in his car is good enough. I've tried everything with him from gun selection to carry options and he refuses to carry. I bought him a Glock 43 for his birthday and it sat unfired in the box for a year. He's gotten a half dozen different handguns that he won't use. He doesn't want to go shooting much more than to sight in his deer rifle. I haven't had any success when it came to getting him able to defend himself.
My mom now actually is showing interest as a result of her near catastrophe and I don't want to have her decide she doesn't want to carry. I now realize, and so does she, that her age (and the car that my parents drive, which makes it seem they're worth robbing) make her a target.
She wants to get a CCW permit and will almost certainly purse carry. She has very little firearms experience and is recoil sensitive. She struggles to rack the slide on most semi-autos. I need to help her find something that is safe to purse carry, that she can practice with enough to use effectively, and pretty simple to operate under stress. She lives out of state so roster issues are not issues for her. What I'm thinking:
Ruger LCR (.22LR, .22 Mag or .38? Thoughts?)
Ruger SR22
Sig P238 (I hear the slide is easy to rack, but don't like the single action idea)
Glock 42 (Slide easy to rack also...yes?)
Should I look at more full to mid size guns since weight isn't as much an issue? Any full to mid size guns easier to rack? I know the drawbacks of purse carry, but I've been struggling to get my dad to carry and 95% of the time he leaves his gun in the car. I'd rather have my mom have a gun in her purse than have nothing.
I'm going to take a trip to Cabelas and Scheels with her to pick it out. I think I'm leaning towards the LCR in .22 LR because it could be a jumping off point to something better.
Any of you who have experience with senior citizens picking up firearms for CCW, I'd appreciate your thoughts on everything related to the topic.
***Added***
Thanks for all the help. I'm noticing the common theme of an all-steel revolver, so I'm going to let her try my S&W 19-2, and if she likes it see if I can find her a 2.5in all steel 19 or something in that vein and start there.
Also, some have asked what exactly happened. I'll go ahead and share it here.
She was in an industrial part of town and being a senior in a luxury car made her a target. She walked out from a shop where she was getting some construction bids, saw the tire was leaking, and then actually saw the guy who was waiting for her to do anything other than drive away watching her from bushes on the other side of the empty parking lot. As he started walking toward her, she immediately jumped in the car and split. At that point, he went from walking toward her to running away. The tires she had were run flats, so she made it far enough away to call for help. Sure enough, the tire was slashed.
From her understanding of the situation, she can't think of any other explanation other than she was being set up to have bad things happen, and after hearing the details, I can't either.
Her real saving grace, along with quick action, was the run flat tires were not expected and the distance between her and the scumbag, which was only possible because there was no cover for him closer than about 50 yards away. She now realizes she'd like to be a little more prepared if she can't run or evade. She handled it perfectly, quickly recognizing what was going on and taking the best action available. I asked her what she would have done if she had this gun she now wants, and she said that she'd have put her hand on it inside her purse when she walked out given where and when she was walking and pretty much done the same thing. Not bad for an old lady.
Unexpected surprise in her favor (tires), plus quick action on her part. Not much got past mom when I was a kid, not much has changed apparently.
My dad, who is a complete idiot when it comes to this, still thinks that having a gun in his car is good enough. I've tried everything with him from gun selection to carry options and he refuses to carry. I bought him a Glock 43 for his birthday and it sat unfired in the box for a year. He's gotten a half dozen different handguns that he won't use. He doesn't want to go shooting much more than to sight in his deer rifle. I haven't had any success when it came to getting him able to defend himself.
My mom now actually is showing interest as a result of her near catastrophe and I don't want to have her decide she doesn't want to carry. I now realize, and so does she, that her age (and the car that my parents drive, which makes it seem they're worth robbing) make her a target.
She wants to get a CCW permit and will almost certainly purse carry. She has very little firearms experience and is recoil sensitive. She struggles to rack the slide on most semi-autos. I need to help her find something that is safe to purse carry, that she can practice with enough to use effectively, and pretty simple to operate under stress. She lives out of state so roster issues are not issues for her. What I'm thinking:
Ruger LCR (.22LR, .22 Mag or .38? Thoughts?)
Ruger SR22
Sig P238 (I hear the slide is easy to rack, but don't like the single action idea)
Glock 42 (Slide easy to rack also...yes?)
Should I look at more full to mid size guns since weight isn't as much an issue? Any full to mid size guns easier to rack? I know the drawbacks of purse carry, but I've been struggling to get my dad to carry and 95% of the time he leaves his gun in the car. I'd rather have my mom have a gun in her purse than have nothing.
I'm going to take a trip to Cabelas and Scheels with her to pick it out. I think I'm leaning towards the LCR in .22 LR because it could be a jumping off point to something better.
Any of you who have experience with senior citizens picking up firearms for CCW, I'd appreciate your thoughts on everything related to the topic.
***Added***
Thanks for all the help. I'm noticing the common theme of an all-steel revolver, so I'm going to let her try my S&W 19-2, and if she likes it see if I can find her a 2.5in all steel 19 or something in that vein and start there.
Also, some have asked what exactly happened. I'll go ahead and share it here.
She was in an industrial part of town and being a senior in a luxury car made her a target. She walked out from a shop where she was getting some construction bids, saw the tire was leaking, and then actually saw the guy who was waiting for her to do anything other than drive away watching her from bushes on the other side of the empty parking lot. As he started walking toward her, she immediately jumped in the car and split. At that point, he went from walking toward her to running away. The tires she had were run flats, so she made it far enough away to call for help. Sure enough, the tire was slashed.
From her understanding of the situation, she can't think of any other explanation other than she was being set up to have bad things happen, and after hearing the details, I can't either.
Her real saving grace, along with quick action, was the run flat tires were not expected and the distance between her and the scumbag, which was only possible because there was no cover for him closer than about 50 yards away. She now realizes she'd like to be a little more prepared if she can't run or evade. She handled it perfectly, quickly recognizing what was going on and taking the best action available. I asked her what she would have done if she had this gun she now wants, and she said that she'd have put her hand on it inside her purse when she walked out given where and when she was walking and pretty much done the same thing. Not bad for an old lady.
Unexpected surprise in her favor (tires), plus quick action on her part. Not much got past mom when I was a kid, not much has changed apparently.
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