Maybe the decision to start carrying a concealed handgun was simple for you. You picked up the gun, got the permit, took the class, and now you carry that gun every single day, everywhere you go. And you know what? That was a wise decision.
But if you have a significant other or special someone in your life, chances are good you want him or her to be able to fend for herself. Chances are, in a long enough period of time, you’ve brought up the prospect of her getting a concealed carry permit and carrying a gun. Maybe you even went to the gun range together to try out some handguns to see what worked best.
We’re curious: how did you end up convincing your spouse or significant other to start carrying concealed?
For this article, I talked to a concealed carrier I’ve known for a long time and asked him how he got his wife to start carrying a gun everyday.
Phil from Syracuse, NY
“I’ve been married for seventeen years, now. But back when we first got married, I was (and still am) a commercial driver. We never really brought it up much for our first two years of marriage. She came out to the range with me every now and again and she knew I had a New York permit to carry a handgun. When our first kid was on the way, I realized I couldn’t always be home to protect my wife. That’s when I brought it up to her. She was four weeks along and I was ready to head out again on the road for two weeks and I asked her if she’d ever think about carrying a handgun.
‘Out of the house?’
‘Yeah,’ I told her. ‘You take a class, get a permit from the county, and then you start carrying the gun.’
‘But what about the baby?’
She was worried that handguns and kids wouldn’t go together. There’s plenty of stuff on the television and I told her when I got back, we’d sign up for a class and have an instructor work us through how that would go. We have a local Rod & Gun Club not far from us and there was also a pistol range that offered classes. When I got back, I signed us up for a class. She was much further along and didn’t feel comfortable with all the gunshots in the background, so that first class was just us and a few other folks and we learned together about pistol safety, laws, and such. I already carry a gun and took the course so it wasn’t much I hadn’t already heard but I felt it helped her get over some of her fears. She made it through the qualification portion and we went down and filed the paperwork. To be perfectly honest, living in New York, I wasn’t sure which would arrive sooner: the permit or the baby.”
Q: So which made it first?
“The permit ended up getting here first. And then the next big thought was how she was going to carry it. She said she wanted to put it in her purse. We had settled on a small S&W .38 Special revolver and it seemed like a good choice. But after some reading online, she said she wanted to get a holster that goes into her purse — to make sure the trigger isn’t messed with. She carries that gun in her purse and she feels confident that she can keep it stored safely.
Q: Did you have any concerns about your kid and your wife carrying a gun?
“The only part both she and I were worried about was when our first son was born. We weren’t sure how toddlers and guns would mix. A little kid’s hands can get himself into trouble but, to be honest, she just kept the gun in its holster in the purse and kept the purse on her and ran into no problems.”
Everyone’s story is going to be a bit different. Different folks have different needs. But it’s always a great thing to hear from those who’ve carried pistols for a long time just how they managed to get their better half to start doing the same.
Feel free to tell us your story in the comments below.