Since I suffer from hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia I could not read your post, bugle boy.

No way?!!! Me too! I thought that I was the only person afflicted...I have always felt so alone, like no one can understand me! I would ask to talk to you about it, but well, I can't.

Here is my take.

Like most everything else, women need to CONGREGATE.

They even like to go to the bathroom together. Well, I agree generally, for safety issue. They like shopping together, etc.

So I think if a woman finds herself in a group (that she likes, or at least not dislike) she will start picking up things from the other pro-gun women from a woman's point of view.

It is just basic human nature; no logic can be used. I may sound sexist but I used to be a very liberal everyone is equal blah blah blah person, but pragmatically I have seen too many examples where men and women do NOT think alike. So I consider that empirical scientific evidence.

My wife I did not even bother "showing her the ways" of the gun.

I had broached the topic several times over the years before we even got any guns. I had to get her OK before any gun purchase.

The more I showed her the news of the world, and what is going on behind the news headlines that most people overlook, the more she realized this is not fantasyland that we live in.

So I got myself in Hunter's Ed.

She asked me why I want to go hunting. I said not for hunting to kill animals for fun, just learn another skill. So she said, ok whatever. Since it's free anyways, and I told her we are not buying guns, I am just taking a class.

Then maybe months or a year later, I said why don't you sign up for the handgun class. I hear it is getting more and more expensive and harder to get into. (This is not necessarily a lie, it is generally true).

So she got the handgun class (from Honolulu Firearms by Russell).

She came back after the 1st day and seemed quite excited to learn all the new terminology and asked me to test her on the parts of a gun, what is a barrel, chamber, slide, etc.

The feedback I got from her was that she was very impressed that there were other women taking the class and even a whole family, with parents and their children, taking the class.

In fact this is what she repeats whenever the wives or other women ask about guns, and I suggest to them to just take the pistol class first and see what they think. Nothing wrong with learning a new topic.

So it was the fact that a whole family, and other women, generally average, decent Americans, taking gun education, that broke the STEREOTYPE of the gun nuts.

Having said all this, she is not ENTHUSIASTIC about firearms. She is OK that we have firearms in the home, but what she does not like is me spending money on ammo or accessories.

I have shown her a few times things that I bought which has since increased substantially in prices, and I told her maybe later I will eBay some of them and get a small profit. And she is OK with that.

Mostly that is an excuse I say to her. Hahaha.

But I think the key was the SOCIAL aspect, because she needed to see other NORMAL people learn about firearms to break any past PRECONCEPTIONS about a firearm.

It is also possible that having women learn self defense first, would be a good step in that direction, baby steps, toward the ultimate self protection method, which is a firearm in the hand.

I don't think any woman would say NO to the idea that women should learn basic self defense against rape, robbery, etc.

Once that mindset is achieved, that one has the right to defend oneself, and one should acquire such skill, then the rest (firearms) is really in the same category of self defense.

It is also not a bad thing for women to learn self defense ANYWAY. It may also open their eyes to HOW IMPOSSIBLE really, it is for a 100 lbs (or even 90 lbs) woman to defend against a 200 lbs rapist using kung fu moves.

Some of the best double dates my wife and i have had have been at the range with my sister and my brother in law. We go to the plinking side and my wife and my sister shoot 10/22s and me and my brother shoot our pistols. great fun and stress relief to get ready for the week ahead or unwind from the week before. my wife is super excited to pick up her G17 on Monday!

I did not tell my wife when we first met that I shoot. She was anti-gun and quite liberal at that time. Before we moved in together I set her down and explained what my hobby is and how I put safety above all else. I also told her I did not expect her to go shooting with me but I did expect her to allow me to teach her gun safety in the event she had to handle one. She agreed. Fortunately, she has never tried to come between me and my guns. She has been shooting with me three times in 19 years. She is no longer anti-gun and she has become quite conservative since we have been together.

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