Help, my wife is scared to shoot.

[remauto1187]

Show her the basics of how a gun works first! You dont want anyone coonfingering a gun without knowing the 10 rules of gun safety and the parts of a gun and what they do. IE: Semi-auto pistol- slide, slide release, barrel, trigger, sights, safety/decocker, magazine release.

BTW that is the 3rd time I believe that I have been able to sneak in the term "coonfgingering" since I learned it on this forum.

 

[Blackdog765]

My wife was not brought up with guns, and I also travel often for work. I signed us both up for a two-day Introduction to the Defensive Pistol course. On the afternoon of the first day we went to the range with unloaded firearms. The instructors inspected each and every firearm, and spent a couple moments with the experienced shooters discussing their gun. The instructors spent more time discussing the gun with those that had never shot (I gave my wife an H&K USPc in 9mm). The instructors also separated husbands/wifes on the lanes so they didn't get cross-talk and confusion on the line.

When it came time to start actually shooting, the instructor did an excellent job of describing to everyone exactly what they were going to do, in exactly the proper form. He was excellent. Then they had an instructor with each student that had never shot before. My wife seemed nervous, but did excellent. In fact she had a perfect single 1" hole where EVERY bullet went during that first target practice session.

This method worked wonderfully for us. It put an impartial expert into the training role, which fit our situation very well. It gave my wife confidence to do what she needed to do. In fact my wife is now interested in taking more training.

 

[gunlover85]

BB guns are a good way to start too. Cheap and the mechanics are the same. Then just build up to something bigger. Baby steps.

Link it all together. BB gun uses mechanically compressed air. .22 uses chemically compressed air. .38 special more chemically compressed air.... and so on.

I like your idea Geek. If you get her started on something really small to give her a feel for shooting then maybe she'll be more willing to continue onto something bigger. I bought my kids an air pistol. It's fun to shoot and helps them to learn how to handle it safely plus it's fun for me to shoot with them in the backyard. Yeah it's not accurate but its fun. I would also continue to stress to her your concern for her and your daughter's safety when you're not home. Even if she doesn't want to shoot your guns, make sure that she knows how to use them if needed.