My Wife HATES guns, how do I get her on board?

[EarlyBoomer]

Her dad is an avid hunter, so she grew up around guns, but since we started a family (3 little ones), she is scared to death. I CC and she is OK with it as long as she doesn't see it and I don't talk about it.
I've tried to get her to the range, but she won't have any of it. I also just tried to show her some basics - just in case something goes down when I'm not there - with very little success.
Any one else have this problem and any serious suggestions would be much appreciated.

[BassNut]

My wife hates guns also. But myself and all three of our kids have been active hunters/shooters since we were all around the age of 10. I pretty much just tell her to deal with it because it is what it is. Been married for going on 23 or 24 years (lost count) so it has been working fine for me.

[agrippakc]

Find a friend that has a wife that likes guns. Going on an outing to some land that you can shoot on. At some point have everyone including the wife that is gun friendly and that might be enough to get her to come watch. Mean while it is important that there be some spectacular "results" like full pop cans exploding and clay pigeons that you are shooting at. This can peak curiosity. Another method,which is the one I used with my young lady, is to find a gun that ties into one of her interests. She likes old fashioned process based activities, she naturally took to shooting cap'n ball revolvers. That lead to shoot Mosin-Nagant rifles and then that lead to collecting weird guns. Now she is almost more active than i am.

[EarlyBoomer]

Thanks Bass,
So your advice is to tell her to deal with it - allllllllrighty?!? I'd say that's already pretty much what's going on, so I guess that makes me feel better. However, I'm more worried about when I'm gone.
Once I was out of town on business and she called me one night asking me where a gun was because there was a suspicious looking caracter walking around the neighborhood. I said "what are you gonna do, throw the gun at him like a dead rat?"

[EarlyBoomer]

Thanks Agri - good thoughts.

[SGB]

Start printing out all the home invasion stories you can find and leave them laying around where she has to see them.

[EarlyBoomer]

Thanks SGB, I like it.

[NCIC105]

Trade her in for a new model..

Or borrow a 22 from someone and lead her into shooting it.. Challenge her to a contest..Make sure the prize will tempt her.

The kick from the 22 is not bad and not too loud.... Slowly lead her up to your carry weapon..

[Trini]

I am planning on signing her up for a home defense class. She doesn't have to shoot a gun in class if she doesn't want to but I think this will get her thinking about it . And who knows maybe she'll come home wanting a gun...sneaky, I know. ..lol

[Hamilton Felix]

I'm all for letting her see the home invasion stories, the one about that little gal in OK who defended herself and baby (stress that the cops came 20 minutes later, remind her that when seconds count, the cops are only minutes away). Do you have kids? The ONLY way the average small/weak female can effectively protect her children from multiple large, violent attackers is with a gun. Home invasions happen.

My second wife thought she was scared of guns. Was a little surprised that my pant "clunked" when I undressed. Turns out, considering it all, she'd been exposed to A**holes with guns and it was armed A**holes she was scared of. She went shooting a bit, owned a few of her own, never got hot about them.

My present wife loves knives, guns, lifted 4x4s. An ex-cop veteran of actual violent encounters, she's ALL for being armed.

But something I always did for the second wife: Make sure it's fun and has no bad surprises. Nothing turns a wife off like a painful surprise. Make sure she's got good ear and eye protection. Let her see you shoot it. Let her see the expected recoil, both holding tight with both hands and holding loosely with one hand. Let her decide whether to try it. Almost nobody fails to enjoy a little plinking with a .22.

Of course, all this is assuming you can get her to the range or to a firearms safety course.

I suppose a subcription to Women & Guns wouldn't hurt, maybe get her a couple of Paxton Quigley's books.

If you can get her to absorb Cooper's Four Rules, talk her into a safety class, it's a good idea. Tell her a person may not like cars, but Driver's Ed teaches you how to behave around then and how to handle them safely. A basic gun safety class makes sense even if you're not a shooter; sooner or later you'll encounter a gun.

I suppose changing wives is out ? ? ?