Son in law wants my daughter to have a handgun

[dice dealer]

First Off ..
Good idea .
ersonally I always recommend a wheel gun for those not very experianced , Basicly no maintanance .
for home defense a shotgun . 20Ga is plenty 410 will even work .

Best of both worlds A Judge ...

But the main thing with having a lady with a firearm ...(been through this with my wife SEVERAL times )

Let her choose what she wants .
If she does not choose it ,she wont use it period .
good luck

Sounds like you are going about it the right way

 

[Dockem]

She is in agreement as to owning a gun, so not a problem.

I agree that a firearms training course is a wise investment.

A dog is out of the question - she owns too many cats!

In the final analysis, she has to choose what she feels most comfortable with, as she has to be confident in using it. And if she wants some "pink thingy" or something with gold trim and pearl grips, so be it.

Let you know what happens.

 

[troy28]

A good big dog is just what she needs. It will provide protection, companionship, and most importantly solve the cat problem. JMO

 

[fw501]

Springfield XD 45! Perfect for putting them DOWN!

 

[Aszerigan]

Dogs are great, but my 1911 never woke me up at 1am to pee.

 

[42769vette]

(I mentioned a pump 20 ga, but I think it fell on deaf ears.)

.

sounds like you whould push for this harder.

 

[Delmar]

I guess one question is why did the shotty suggestion fall on deaf ears?

You know it's hard to tell why a person wants what they want some times. I really wasn't that interested in a shotgun until I went Cowboy action shooting. Now that I have fired one a few times, and I even went to the range and broke a couple of clay pigeons. Now my 12 ga would be the weapon I would least want to be without.

 

[Delmar]

First Off ..
Good idea .
ersonally I always recommend a wheel gun for those not very experianced , Basicly no maintanance .
for home defense a shotgun . 20Ga is plenty 410 will even work .

Best of both worlds A Judge ...

But the main thing with having a lady with a firearm ...(been through this with my wife SEVERAL times )

I thought i wanted a Judge for my first gun. It is cool but the reviews I read claimed that the 410 in a pistol isn't a very effective round. I ended up paying $169 for a Hi Point .45 and later $150 for a good used SxS 12ga. That's a lot of fire power for $319!

Let her choose what she wants .
If she does not choose it ,she wont use it period .

True

 

[Indy317]

Opines please for getting my daughter a handgun:

She has shot my Bersa 380 ACP and a couple of my 9mm. The recoil of the 40 S&W and 45ACP bothers her.
This is not going to be for carry, just a store in the house for a SHTF possibility. She doesn't pretend to be a crack shot, not wanting a custom, just wants something for protection in the house that she feels comfortable shooting.
Thanks for suggestions.

To me, she isn't a "gun person." Whining about recoil, not wanting to carry, etc.., I classify such people as non-gun people. For these types of people, I almost always tell them to get a revolver. If they aren't into guns, the complexity of a semi-auto is sometimes just too much. Plus, if they never practice on a regular basis, I have seen folks complain about something as simple as loading the magazine and pulling the slide back.

With the revolvers, I suggest a .357 mag snub nose revolver with a totally enclosed hammer system. The reasons are:

#1: You can practice with .38spl rounds, but when it is at home, load it up with a good .357 hollow point.
#2: Very simple to use, easier to aim/fire in my opinion. No worries about seating the magazine, racking the slide correctly, etc..
#3: If the person finally becomes a "gun person," and decides they would like to carry, such a gun is a good transition at first. If the person really starts to grasp the physics behind handguns, they can later transition to something like a Glock 26/27 if they still like the idea of a small frame.
#4: If the person, especially a female, decides to carry every so often, the non-exposed hammer design will allow the gun to be fired from within a purse or jacket/hoodie pocket (note: Many folks have done this, and posted videos and pictures on the internet. If shooting from a purse or pocket is a possibility, folks should watch these videos and see exactly what will happen).

My research gave me two options: A S&W and a Taurus (can't recall the model #s). The Taurus had excellent reviews on many different gun forums, and it was considerably less than the S&W.

On Edit: After reading the rest of the thread, I see she seems to be more into guns than some folks who just "want something for the home." Given that, I would see if you could borrow a snub nose revolver and a couple 9mms from some folks. Let her run through each to see what she likes. With the semi-autos, give her both something with an external safety, and something with no safety lever (something like a grip safety is fine...you are looking for something that might get in the way of firing the gun, to see if she can make a mental note of it). If you don't think she will ever go to the range (and going once or twice a year really isn't going to the range in my book), but she still wants/is OK with a semi-auto, I would consider something like a Glock or XD. No external safety levers, and just drill into her head that if she pulls the trigger, gun fires.

 

[loony1]

s&w .39spl +p airweight w/shaved hammer. I dated a girl years ago, and her dad owned a few gunstores here in town, and that is what he had her carry. His reasoning was: A-no hammer to snag in purse, pocket etc. B-easy to "point and shoot" w/less recoil than bigger calibers(yes i know short barrel) C-wheel guns do not jam D-it was a smith. Keep in mind this was 1994-1998, so guns have changed alot since then. just my .02

edit: sorry, my thoughts were on pc, I would probably go higher capacity for home defense, 9mm works fine.

 

[Rich.Carpenter]

I like the 9mm for her as well. However, a .25/.32/.38sp/.380 would all be a step up from nothing at all. I can tell you that any of those would be a big deterrent for me, if I were up to no good. Plus, she would probably be more apt to put in plenty of practice time with a smaller caliber.

P.S. Good for you son in law. Nothing says commitment to a marriage like training her how to shoot.

Lol! So true.

 

[dye]

DA only revolver. Possibly 357 magnum. No Hammer. Point & shoot. Fool proof. No need to rack a slide or pull the hammer back. No need to think it thru in a crisis situation. Send the bad guy running.

 

[Expat]

If she isn't going to carry it, I wouldn't go snub nose or airweight. They are louder and more felt recoil so she will not like practicing with it as much.

 

[thompbarn]

If she's comfortable with a semi-auto, then I second that Glock 19 is the way to go. If not, a .357 S&W loaded with .38 special hollowpoints. Squeeze the trigger and it goes bang.

 

[shawnfox12]

no no no!!!!!!! dont get her a HI-POINT those are the most junk guns out there ive had 6 buddys thats had them and only one was worth a damm dont put your daughter life in hands of a pos gun!!!! get a good gun and great ammo like hornady cd rounds we hope she never has to use it for self def. but you would sleep better at night knowing she has a good gun and good ammo to keep her safe

 

[Delmar]

no no no!!!!!!! dont get her a HI-POINT those are the most junk guns out there ive had 6 buddys thats had them and only one was worth a damm dont put your daughter life in hands of a pos gun!!!! get a good gun and great ammo like hornady cd rounds we hope she never has to use it for self def. but you would sleep better at night knowing she has a good gun and good ammo to keep her safe

Are you really claiming that 5 out of 6 of your buddies were too dumb to take advantage of Hi Points "no questions asked" lifetime warranty , and great customer service? Sounds like you are making things up. Nobody has that many stupid friends.

 

[col132]

Dockem, I'm the fng here, but you're topic brings to mind one of my biggest concerns with beginning shooters. "Son in law wants my daughter to have a handgun". My question is: what makes your son in law think that your daughter wants, needs, or will use a firearm in a deadly force encounter? If not, she may be better off learning to swing a 30 oz Louisville Slugger.

The rest of your post indicates that your daughter may be interested in self defense, and it sounds like you are taking the right course of action by allowing her to fire different kinds of guns, and determining what is right for her.

Having been a firearms instructor for 25 years, and having conducted several "beginner" type self defense classes, I am somewhat amazed by the number of ladies I have seen show up at class with firearms that have been chosen for them by their husbands, dads, gun shop commandos, or gun shop salespeople that have no experience of knowledge of what is best for that particular person. These well intentioned people usually recommend a "little" gun for a female. On at least 3 occassions I seen ladies struggle with these "little" guns that were totally unreliable, manual of arms were difficult, sights sucked, and triggers were difficult to manage. In all three cases, I have given these ladies a G-22 and they have sailed through the rest of the day, all saying that they were going to replace their current guns (Taurus 22, Ruger 22, Keltec 32) with a Glock of some model.

Since we are men we rightfully feel that we should protect our children, and we know that all men are experts in firearms. I think if you provide your daughter with the ability to shoot different guns, and let her muddle through this whole gun/self defense topic (like we all did when we were beginners) I believe you will find out that she can make a pretty darned good decision on her own.

Sounds like you are on the right track.

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

Imho, if it's gonna be kept at home a shot gun or full size 45 if it fits in her hands. My 4.5" 45 has less recoil than my 3.5" 9mm

 

[Delmar]

Imho, if it's gonna be kept at home a shot gun or full size 45 if it fits in her hands. My 4.5" 45 has less recoil than my 3.5" 9mm

Yup, if you don't like recoil heavy is good! As long as she has spent enough time working with the gun to get comfortable aiming it, that is.

 

[Dockem]

I appreciate the suggestions. Lots of good ideas here.

I'll get her to a local range and let her try a few firearms (I'll try the 20 ga out on her also) to get an idea of what is available.

Then, let her mull it over and see what she thinks she'd like.

I'm looking into a firearms course for her to take to reinforce safety and the basics. Hopefully, one will be offered soon. (I'm surprised how many folks don't do this with a novice - did it for my wife also and it helped a lot, in many ways.)