Progress! :D

[GettoPhilosopher]

I'm so stoked right now. My wife's been progressing along, and it's GREAT.

She's never had a political/moral/etc problem with firearms, but she wasn't very comfortable around them. Fine with me owning and shooting them, but didn't really want to shoot them....due to some stuff from her background, she wasn't that comfortable with (in her words) "being around people who have that kind of power over me".

I've been patient, just tried to give her time to get more comfortable. Well, it's worked! In the last 2 weeks she's:

*Told me she was really uncomfortable and freaked out when I went to Angeles range because she didn't have any guns at home and never realized how much of a comfort it was to have guns in the house.

*Asked me for a handgun for her birthday

*Today I offered to take her to an indoor range to try my AR with the .22 bolt (she's fired handguns, never a rifle). She answered that she'd rather me take her to Burro Canyon and try out some 5.56.

This is AWESOME.

[ThortheDog]

Cool.

I used to take my wife shooting, but it's gotten to the point that the RA in her hands and shoulders makes it unpleasant.

After my recent trip to the range I mentioned that I missed our son not being able to go with me, and she expressed an interest in going again.

Now I need to work on finding a good rimfire handgun for us to shoot. Darn.

[GettoPhilosopher]

@Gettophilosopher:I have a similar situation. I found that exposure is everything.
Back in the early 90s, we were handed angry white supremacist propaganda at a gun show, and at a shooting range, angry paranoid mountain militia/McVey-esque propaganda. Her reaction was to believe that "there are many disturbed people in your gun world". She wanted nothing to do with it. However, exposure to kind people with a positive disposition like those at black powder events, antique military collectors, and our pistol shooting egg-head/video game friends made her comfortable with it again. Now, she thinks it might be fun to go to cowboy action shoots as a family. --I'm stoked!

There are all types in the gun world...and it is their right.....but I find the key to spousal hobby approval/support is limiting the exposure to that which reinforces any preconceived negative ideas---whatever those may be. May your good fortune continue!

Right. With her, it was very specifically a comfort level thing. She was fine with the community, and was glad I was a part of it. She just has trouble when she feels people have power over her (makes sense, considering her background). So it took a while to get over her "He (anyone other than me) has a gun and could kill me or make me do whatever he wanted if he so chose" reaction.

[rockman]

My wife goes to the range with me all the time and is a great shooter!

[IGOTDIRT4U]

My wife is more or less like yours was. She won't go shooting, she doesn't want to hear much about it, and although she likes me having a handgun when we travel and at night when we sleep at home, she really would almost rather we have none.

Our compromise is that every 6 months she has to take a "safety" class and drill with me on handguns and shotguns. This is for her safety. If she ever needs to pick up a gun, even if ti is to just move it, or if she really wants, for protection, she will know if it is loaded, if it is ready to fire, and how to fire it, reload it, safely.