After being together for over 4 years my GF finally agreed to go shooting with me yesterday. A little background, she absolutely hates guns. She supports the right to own and carry guns, but she always had a strong fear of them and simply did not like being around them. This is slightly understandable given an incident involving someone in her immediate family which I won't go into here. I was sort of surprised she wanted to go, but happy she wanted to give it a shot (pun intended). To start off I rented a Buck Mark at the range (awesome gun BTW, I'll be buying one soon) and gave her the run down on safety, the operation of the gun, grip, stance, etc. She did great! Was putting all shots in a 4-5" group at about 6yds (not bad for someone who had previously never touched a gun). She quickly got tighter and tighter and wanted to move the target back more. Then after a while she got bored with the .22 and wanted to try my Glock 17. She ended up shooting the 17 better than the Buck Mark! The only thing she didn't like was that her hands got sore after a few mags (we were shooting Speer Lawman FMJ which is pretty hot for a range load). By the time we left she was more or less over her fear since she now understood how guns worked and how hard it would be for a gun to fire without someone pulling the trigger. She said she enjoyed shooting and would love to go back. There was even some tentative talk about applying for a GWL and possibly looking at carry guns in the next year. \/
Congratulations on the break through! I have found that with time and a little gentle persuasion most come over to the dark side! Keep taking her as long as she will go...She may just have your back one day when you need it most.
Congrats on the accomplishment! I go to school at georgia southern, what range did you go to? The only one i've been to is a old man's range he's got set up on his land.
Good job! I always like to hear about a woman making good use of a gun. And your girlfriend's reasons for fearing guns are completely understandable, but it's glad to see that she faced her fear and has overcome it.
awesome...glad she is overcoming her fears and prejudice...my wife was the same way due to an event in her teenage years...she has since given it a chance and found out she really liked shooting and wanted to maybe get her own for HD...so, alas we went months ago and got her a PK380...she LOVES it...so much in fact that she even said i could get her some rounds as christmas presents so she could go more and practice to get better...she even made the comment last weekend, "i feel safer having it with me when we (her and the kids) have to go out at night somewhere"...i work nights so it makes me happy to know she came around... take yours as often as she asks and invite when she doesnt to make it an easier, more fun time...she opened up this much, give her time, she will definitely be open to more later!!!
I've introduced several anti- people to guns. I haven't turned any of them into gun-nuts... but I've never had one that didn't have a lot of fun. Most people fear them simply because they don't understand them. Simply showing someone how it works and how to be safe with it will get you a long ways.
Careful now bubba next thing you know you'll be married and she will own more pistols than you. (not that either are a bad thing) not that I would know or anything.
I took my wife to the range with me and she was so nervous her safety glasses fogged up from perspiration! She couldn't get over her fears on that day and she hasn't been back since, but I hope she'll try again someday.
That is great! I am still working on getting my wife to the range. She said she wants to go eventually so I just need to make it happen I guess.