A Gun For My Wife, Part 2

Last month I tried to give you a little insight into how some people approach the selection of a personal protection handgun for their wives, significant others or female family members. On the surface, the typical criteria: small, light, little or no recoil and not very expensive, seem logical to someone who is thinking more about buying a gun simply as a possession, rather than as a self defense tool suitable for stopping a deadly attack. Some seem to think that a gun is some sort of magic talisman that will protect them merely by being possessed or, if necessary, displayed to someone who is threatening them with serious bodily harm. I've talked with both men and women who come right out and say that they would never shoot anyone. They just want to scare an attacker off.

Anyone in law enforcement these days knows that the kinds of predators who intent to inflict death or grave bodily harm on their victims, for whatever purpose, are not going to be so easily deterred. In fact, when they sense a lack of resolute purpose they can become enraged and empowered, knowing that their intended victim is a paper tiger. Simply put, a person with a gun is only a threat if they are willing to use it when necessary. If the person is not prepared to shoot another human being to protect themselves, or someone they love, then they should not be displaying guns and expecting to be intimidating enough that they really don't have to use it.

As you all know, bad guys don't like to be "dissed," and such a futile action is the ultimate act of disrespect. If this is the woman in your life, forget the gun and work on other ways to manage her personal protection. But, if the woman in question is serious about her personal safety and willing to accept the attendant responsibility that goes with the ownership and use of firearms, here are the things that I would recommend you, and they, consider. You'll notice it is a bit different than the list we reviewed last month.

RELIABILITY

My number one requirement is that the gun must work if it is ever needed for self protection. That usually eliminates all the truly inexpensive guns. The cheaper they are, the more they just don't run reliably. Also, as I have mentioned in the past, it seems that with semi-auto pistols, the smaller the gun the more function problems it will have. Many of the smaller auto pistols were designed to work reliably only with full metal jacketed bullets. These are never the correct selection of personal protection. This is where revolvers really shine. A decent quality revolver is relatively uncomplicated, which makes for straightforward "point-gun-pull-trigger" operation. Revolvers are still an excellent choice, especially for someone who doesn't possess the hand strength to operate a good quality compact auto pistol, or the person who just doesn't want to deal with the manual of arms for an auto loader. I'll talk shortly about how fit and controllability relate to this, but I always remind women that this is a form of life insurance, so there is no compromise regarding reliability.

EFFECTIVE CALIBER

I see no point in owning a personal defense gun that will not effectively stop a violent attack. That eliminates a lot of small and cheap guns, as well. Once upon a time you could feel confident that if you shot an attacker with anything, he would get the message and cease his attack. Law enforcement officers should know better than anyone that, in today's world of drug fueled violence and pure psychotic rage, you must be prepared to stop an attack, not just play bullet tag. If the person being attacked is my wife, I want the attack stopped NOW. That usually means a trade off with size, weight and recoil. So be it. As far as I'm concerned, .38 Special and 9mm are the minimum calibers to consider. With today's modern bullet designs and increasingly smaller handgun designs, I don't see any need for mouse gun calibers, unless you subscribe to the theory that any gun is better than no gun. Then you can get some very small guns, which tend to have very small bullets. They also usually don't have very many of them on board, so the fact that you would probably have to shoot someone with more such bullets to be effective seems to be counterproductive. However, effective calibers do mean more recoil, so how the gun fits the shooter's hand, as well as the operating system is important.

HAND FIT AND CONTROLLABILITY

The gun must fit the person using it, not hubby. The right gun for your wife may well not be the right gun for you, and the right gun for you often is not the right one for her. I see this all the time, and when the wife finally makes a connection with the right gun, she often lets hubby know that HIS choice was a loser. Take the time to try different guns, different trigger systems, and different styles. Sometimes revolvers are the best choice. Sometimes it is the auto loaders. Generally speaking, revolvers have more felt recoil, mainly because they don't soak up any of the recoil energy in their operation, like auto-loaders do. Larger revolvers, which are perfectly suitable for home use, are generally easy to shoot, especially for inexperienced shooters. The grips can be changed, if necessary, for good fit and control and they are easy to load and unload.

Smaller revolvers are often selected for their size or weight, but they become harder to control as they get smaller. If someone likes a small revolver, I usually recommend that they use a larger revolver to develop good shooting techniques, then transfer those skills to the smaller gun. It can be very uncomfortable training with a small revolver, so why beat yourself up and run the risk of developing bad habits?

On the other hand, the recoil of small auto-loaders generally is not that different from equivalent standard sized models, so if hand fit and trigger reach are good, you can start with a compact pistol. One of the most important things I see with female shooters who are new to auto pistols is that they don't hold the gun as tightly as they should and they don't align the skeletal support of their wrist, arm and body behind the gun. Auto loaders need a solid platform to reciprocate against to function properly. Revolvers can be a better choice for someone who has problems with grip or wrist strength, especially when trying to operate the slide to load and unload the pistol. Still, this is a skill that can be taught, barring some physical problem, so an auto loader may still be an excellent choice.

In our classes, two of the most popular small auto pistols are the Springfield XD sub-compact and the Smith & Wesson compact. The latter even has interchangeable grip panels to adjust them for a good fit. Many women who try different guns prefer to shoot the auto loaders, even when they find the revolvers easier to manipulate. It can take a few range sessions to sort out the pros and cons of each style of gun. It is worth the time and effort. Properly motivated women tend to be excellent students and it is always interesting to see their reactions when they "get it." The ones who are happiest are the ones who have made the discovery themselves and not had something thrust upon them. One poor guy recently purchased a revolver for his wife, which she brought to a class. Its main virtue for the husband was that it was inexpensive. It was also cheap. It reminded me of a starter pistol that was capable of firing real ammunition. The double action trigger was so heavy that the lady could not pull it. We gave her a different gun to use and she did very well in the class. It must have been a long ride home for hubby, however.

Whatever gun your wife finally selects, training is essential. It must be a gun that is suitable for enough trigger time that she is comfortable with both the safe operation of the gun and her ability to shoot it accurately. Obviously, she has made a big commitment about protecting herself or her loved ones and it is important to have the confidence that she will prevail if she ever needs to use the gun for self defense. When helping her make the selection, never lose sight of the ultimate goal: it is for the protection of someone you love.