I had to train both my Wives to shoot. In the areas we were when the training took place, there were no women instructors. In the case of my first Wife, the male instructors in the area (Clovis, NM, 1986) we unwilling to train women. It just did not happen. With both Wives, it started with an incident that got them to thinking they might need a firearm and the training started the same way both times.
We talked about gun ownership, did they really feel they needed a gun to protect themselves in my absence. Both answered YES. We talked about gun safety, storage, training, responsibility…everything. They still wanted firearms. We talked about the cost of the firearms, ammunition, holsters, safes. In order to purchase the firearms we would need to shuffle finances and maybe let a bill or two go for another month, putting us in a bind financially. Life would be slim for a few months. Both agreed the cost was acceptable.
Then it was a trip to the local gun shop. In Clovis, it was Reb’s Gun Shop downtown. I don’t know if they are still there. I had Wie #1 wrap her hands around every pistol in the cabinet. She chose a Taurus PT58 .380. I genuinely miss that pistol. She took it with her when we divorced. For wife #2, It was a trip to Gun Corps in College Station. They have since closed down. I had her wrap her hands around every pistol in the store. She chose an S&W M&P Shield 9mm compact. A short time later, after Gun Corps closed, we traded it in at Gander Mountain for a Beretta PX4 Storm 9mm compact. She didn’t like the take-down procedures of the M&P. I didn’t argue. Her gun. She needed to like it.
I trained them at home on grip, stance, magazine change, reloading magazines. The PT58 we had back in the day only came with one magazine, so Wife #1 had to accomplish everything she needed to do with that magazine. Way back then in New Mexico there was not an option for spare magazines. With Wife #2, her PX4 came with 2 magazines and I have since bought several more. When they felt they were ready to take the next step, we headed to the range.
Wife #1 took to it like a fish in water. We went through a few dry runs, she said she was ready, and I put a single round in her magazine. She loaded the pistol, charged the weapon, got her grip right, stance right, aimed at her target and clicked off the safety. I stood behind her with my hands just touching her shoulders so she could know I was right there. It calmed her nerves. She fired the shot dead center in the middle of the target. She was off and running. She had just joined the Boy’s Club, so to speak.
Wife #2 was then and is now a little different. We went through every step the same way I did with Wife #1. Her nerves were calm until she fired the shot, again hitting the target dead center. She cleared and safed the weapon like She had trained to do, She set it down turned and buried her face in my chest and began to cry.
Wife #2 is a Hippie. She is into Holistic healing, essential oils, She is a Solitary Witch following our Norse Pegan ways and she absolutely HATES the fact that she may need to take a life to protect our family. I hate it also, but we are both prepared if we need. She trains with me every chance we get. I have offered to find her a professional instructor and she has declined. I am her support group. She is mine.
Wife #2 is a stay-at-home Mom. She carries her pistol and two spare magazines on her hip every day as she goes about her day. There are two more magazines in her purse, several in the nightstand on her side of the bed, several in her bug out bag, and two more in the passenger door pocket of the Expedition. We have lock boxes in the Expedition for hers and my weapons.
I am luck, I suppose, I had the good military training pounded into my head so I can pass it on to my family. My Veteran Brothers and Sisters can attest to that fact. With the weapons we have at home, we can also train on several different levels.
There are a couple Female instructors in our area now, but Wife #2 still declines my offers to set up the training.
