[reprosser]

Hello all

Never owned a firearm, but have fired pistols, shotguns, and rifles before. After seeing what happened with Katrina and the local anarchy, I decided that having a gun around might be a good idea.

Wife is VERY uncomfortable with the idea of having a gun in the house, so I need to get her up to speed with a more favorable attitude. I plan for us to attend a training class before deciding and purchasing anything.

I have applied for a firearm carry permit (Gwinnett).

Any suggestions on a class or other things I should do to move things along?

Is there a good established method to determine what type of firearm to purchase? (handgun vs shotgun, his and hers, etc). Maybe someone has worked thru this scenario before?

 

[pro2am]

Welcome! I have (had) a similar situation. I'm not sure of a established method, but I'll tell you what I did.

I applied for my permit first (it takes too long to get one anyway). I joined quite a few gun forums, in particular this one, and manufacturer specific like XDTalk.com, Glocktalk.com, CZforum.com, etc. I did a ton of research and reading about various handguns on the web including article searches for personal protection handguns etc. I also visited 7 stores that had guns as well as the gun show in Cobb so that I could see, and especially feel, a variety of guns.

In all my research I found similar advice.

1. Buy the one you shoot well (try to rent the one you want), and feels good to you. If you don't, you won't shoot it enough for practice.
2. Practice, practice, practice.

I found most people are die hard for one type of gun or manufacturer or the other. Lots of folks like the semi-auto, but there are plenty of wheel gun fanatics out there too. It's all a matter of item 1 above.

My wife isn't anti-gun, but she also doesn't like them in the house. I began introducing "gun-talk" into my conversations in a very gentle manner. I also began pointing out the crimes in our immediate area as well as stories that involve self-defense. It has taken me a long time (about 5 months) and she's still a little uncomfortable with it, but she understands it.

I bought a CZ 75 PCR. Nice little alloy frame 9MM.

Disclaimer: Any advice pertaining to women/wives is subject to change at any SECOND. Advice taken regarding women/wives is at your own peril. Your mileage will definately vary...at any time...for any reason.

 

[Foul]

Some ranges have a "ladies night" where they shoot 2 hours for the price of 1. Many of these same ranges have firearms safety classes as well.

All it took to get my once anti-gun wife to change her ways was a near abduction of our then 4 year old daughter. (Thank God it turned out ok.)

We have the fire power of some small 3rd world nations now...

 

[Broadside Bob]

Here's my story. Sorry if it's a little long.

I didn't grow up around guns, so to some extent, I bought into some of the liberal anti-guns arguements...please don't get out the flame throwers yet as I don't feel like donning my nomex suit. I was definitely not anti-gun, I just thought they weren't really needed since we have a modern police force to protect us, etc.. I did understand that I was probably screwed in the event of a home invasion, but that was a choice I made thinking that the potential for a firearm related accident in my home outweighed the risk of being a victim. It may have been a poor choice, but it was a conscious choice. I WAS NEVER ANTI-GUN IN THE SENSE THAT I WANTED TO TAKE AWAY ANYONE ELSE'S 2A RIGHTS. I just chose not to exercise mine.

I married relatively late (age 36), and my wife thought we should have a gun in the house for home protection. That still didn't sway me for the longest time...I know . One night about a year and a half ago, someone came to the door at 9:00 PM. It was only the neighbor, but it scared me to think that it could have been the pretext to a home invasion. Shortly after, I broached the subject of getting a gun with the better half and got a resounding "YES."

Here's where it gets interesting, my dad (died in '83) had a small revolver that my mom still had, and I mentioned that we were going to get a gun when we were over there one time. Mom doesn't really like guns so she gave it to me that day. I bought some ammo for it even though it would only be adequate as a defensive weapon if we were attacked by squirrels (it's a S&W .32 Long). When I loaded it and dropped it in a drawer, my wife's reaction was, "It's loaded!!; what if it just goes off and shoots the dog!?" :shakehead: She did get over that, and I went out gun shopping. I ended up with a Glock 19 after trying out different models and calibers from several manufacturers.

At the encouragement of my boss, I applied for a GFL, and received it last spring. I began carrying on road trips, but the first time I did, my wife was kind of shocked that I had and asked me to tell her whenever I was carrying. So, everytime we got in the car to go anywhere, I'd say, "BTW, I'm packing." Over time, I've started carrying pretty much whereever I won't get arrested or fired (against company policy). A couple of weeks ago, I got in the car with my wife and said, "BTW, I'm packing." She said, "Why do you always tell me that?" :? I said, "Because you asked me to." First, she did not remember asking but then said I don't have to tell here anymore. :screwy:

I also made a $700 mistake at the range a few months ago when I decided to try something different after shooting my G19 and rented a Kimber 1911. It took about one magazine before I said, "I have GOT to get me one of these. So now, in addition to the Glock with 3,500 rounds through it, I've got a Kimber Stainless Custom II that passed 1,000 rounds yesterday.

I am a little frustrated in that part of the deal in getting the gun was that my wife would practice with it regulary (at least every couple of months). To date, she hasn't held up that end of the deal. To be fair, I've also got some projects on my "honey do" list that I haven't gotten around to either.

For shopping, I'd recommend Bullseye in downtown Lawrenceville: they'got a good selection of rentals ($5 per gun), and range time is the about cheapest I've seen in Atlanta. For training, try American Classic Marksman in Norcross. They have an instructor there on Tuesdays and Thursdays for $20 per half hour (trying to get my wife to go).

As for specific guns, there's no one right answer for everyone. I'd definitely suggest you rent both a Glock and a Springfield XD in addition to anything else you may be interested in. The Glock and the XD are amoung the simplest semi-autos to operate, and because the frame is polymer, they're relatively cheap. I'm glad I started with 9mm because the gun was more manageable for me, and practice was a whole lot more affordable.

That's pretty much my story. Maybe some of it's helpful to your situation. Regardless, Good Luck!!

 

[Foul]

Show this one to your wife. If she wants to chat with Kat, my wife, I'm sure we can arrange either a phone call or internet chat or even face to face chat if need be. Here we go...

Long post coming...

This whole thing took place before we were firearms owners. Kat was very anti-gun (Having an Uncle shot in the head right in front of her could do that) and since I was so heavy into martial arts and bladed weapons, I didn't really mind a whole lot...for the time being.
Anyway, I had just pulled in from work and the kids asked if they could go out in the back yard to play. It's a 5 foot chain link fence with 3 gates, all padlocked, so I saw no problem.
I had just started to change out of my work clothes when our son (7 at the time) came running inside saying that 2 boys were taking our daughter (4 at the time) over the fence.
Kat head straight out the door, and I was 2 steps behind her pausing only long enough to grab my Fang of Baelin double bladed dagger...my unbuckled pants slipping further down with each step. I didn't even pause to re-secure them...I would have kept going butt nekkid if I had to.
I guess they saw us coming because our daughter was standing on the opposite side of the fence crying. Kat went straight to her while I rounded the corner with every intent to cut the heads off of both guys. There is a path thru the woods that leads to an appartment comples in the next neighborhood over and I guess they had a bigger head start than I thought, because they were nowhere to be seen.
I used every cuss word, taunt and racial slur I could think of to bring them out into the open, but I guess the sight of a murderous father with two 10" blades in his fist was a little more than they bargined for.
Our daughter said that the 2 boys were trying to take her to the house next door (which was vacant at thae time).
The only person that saw their faces was our 7 year old son and couldn't really give a very good description to the cops when they arrived 40 MINUTES LATER!
During the investigation process, Kat looked my in the eyes and said "I want a gun and I want one NOW!"
The cop looked at her, looked at me and pulled out a note tablet and started writing. A second later he ripped a page out, handed it to Kat and said "Here's the guns you want to look at."
He talked about there were gangs in our county who's initiation ritual included shooting a cop. Obviously, if they'll shoot a cop, a they wouldn't bat a eye over killing a civilian.
He told us word for word that "If you are ever confronted and fear for your life, shoot to kill and DON'T leave them as a witness. There's not a court in the state that will convict you for defending your family."
He also said don't believe the BS of shooting and dragging the body into the house. That's easy for the investigators to note and makes you look less than justified.
The next day we got our first two handguns and we've been arming ever since.
She's graduated from her first 9mm semi (now her backup) to a Taurus .357 with hollow points, plus I gave her one of my Yugos.
The neighborhood now knows us as the "crazy-assed white people at the end of the block with guns".
Several of our black neighbors have armed as well when a rash of break-ins began. We band together pretty good and watch out for each other now. Everyone really appreciates how Kat watches out for the safety of their kids as if they were our own and they appreciate that all they have to do is call and they will have at least me, if not both Kat and me with a small arsenal to help defend them.
Kat and I are slowly but surely arming the neighborhood and taking it back from the s**theads around here. They fear us more than they do the cops now. Twisted Evil

ps. They never found the guys. If they come back and try again, it's over.

 

[Rammstein]

wow

interesting story Foul.

 

[reprosser]

Thanks

Thanks for the stories and info - now that I have some "ammunition", we will see how things progress.

I plan to set up a trip for us to Bullseye for handgun introduction and safety talk to start things off.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Foul, do you still live in the same neighborhood?

 

[tony218]

Foul, do you still live in the same neighborhood?

you beat me to it malum. i think he lives very near me.
if this is the case i want my wife to read this.
she still doesn't want to carry. she loves shooting not carrying.

 

[curtdiss]

reprosser

check out www.firearmz.net for training...Ken is a good guy not full of himself etc as a lot of trainers seem to be. Get some training...it will help both of you feel more comfortable around guns

Good Luck and welcome!

btw, my wife is not all that gun friendly but she puts up with me...our son has been introduced to guns at an early age (4) by myself and his grandfather. (safely of course) I quiz him on the rules of gun safety regularly.

 

[Foul]

Foul, do you still live in the same neighborhood?

Yep...for now.

I DO plan on moving, but only when I'm damn good and ready. I'm not letting these punks chase me off...I fight back with dirtier tactics than they can dream of.

Like I said...the longer term people who have lived here a while have gotten fed up and started taking their own safety, and that of our streets, back into their own hands.

No vigilanteism going on, but you can bet we know what the term of "Stand Your Ground" means.

Most of these thug wanabes with wet their pants if anyone shows the slightest bit of backbone to them. We've had no less than 3 arrested in the past 3 months or so on various charges from criminal trespassing to carrying a concealed butcher knife (by a 13 year old who nearly got his head blown off by my next door neighbor's boyfriend...an ex-sniper.)

(Cleaning my SKSes and Mosin Nagants on the front porch kinda ensures they know what's coming if they tread on me in the least.) :twisted:

ps. My wife packs her Kel-Tec P11 9mm or her Tarurs .357 very regularly. Sometimes even open carries in her leg holster checking the mail to ensure they remember who we really are. (There's nothing sexier that a woman packing with a leg holster...LOL.) :lol:

 

[GeorgiaGlocker]

:welcome: aboard!

 

[Tinkerhell]

Reprosser, I'm in a slightly similar boat to you so - another sort of long & probably boring post.

I've recently moved out of the city of Macon onto a lovely home on 7 acres in Jones county. A nice quiet area that is almost but not quite in the middle of nowhere. I've always had a shotgun in the house even when we lived in town but since we moved I I've felt that it would be a very good idea to increase the size of the personal arsenel. Just in case.

My wife would frequently question why I felt like I had to keep the shotgun under the bed - "Can't you put it away upstairs or something?" To which I would reply that it wouldn't do much good upstairs when we needed it in the middle of the night when we heard a window break.

Anyway once we really got settled in the house and I had time to breath & think about picking up some new firearms I picked a really nice Fall day and decided to fire a few rounds through my old remington nylon .22 in the back yard (I love being able to do that now!!) That got my wife's attention & I talked her into doing a little target practice with me. I set up some targets at a rather short range (short meant much easier to hit for the newbie wife ), gave her some eyes & ears & let her blast away. She ended up shooting very well & had fun. So then I grabbed the old shot gun & she enjoyed that as well but complained about the noise. Can't win em all I guess.

That went well so then I started talking about buying a pistol for replacing the old shotgun (.410) by the bed. Eventually I picked a Walther P22 which I plan on being my wife's gun when things are all said and done - meaning I've bought 3-4 more guns for me :twisted:.

Since then I've had her shoot with me a couple of times & she has turned out to be very good with that little pistol. It's light, has zero kick, and is cheap & fun to plink with. She is more & more open to the idea of having guns in the house & of me packing (though she still thinks I'm silly for doing it because she doesn't too much think anything can happen - I think this will change once we have kids. Just gotta avoid the "concern for the little one's safty" issue and then things will be all good.

The point is that I had success starting off small & making it fun for her. Don't put a cannon in her hands & expect her to take to it. Build up to that (Heck I'm a new owner & I have to say I need to build up to having a big gun on me routinely.)

My only concern is that she wouldn't shoot when the time came. Me... well lets just say that wouldn't be a problem.

No matter what, welcome, good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[reprosser]

Keep 'em coming

I would like hearing from everyone - more the merrier.

Gotta go out of town for a bit, but will keep you posted on progress.