My wife wants a handgun but......[Vanity]

May 21, 2010 | B.E. Radtke

[bjorn14]

I was having breakfast on the terrace with my wife the other day and out of the blue she says to me "I think I want a handgun but I don't want it to be able to kill someone"

My first thought was "What's the point?"

Well alot of back and forth discussion, so any suggestions/comments/advice?

[WKUHilltopper]

Lady, if you point a gun at someone, you’d better be prepared to squeeze the trigger—otherwise, they’ll take it from you and use it on you.

[DrC]

“Law Enforcement are taught to acquire and destroy their target. The head and chest are the largest areas of the human body and that is where to aim with the highest chance of destruction.”

There seems to be conflicting info on this:
“we are not trained to kill, we are trained to stop the threat, many suspects survive, if we were trained to kill, we would keep shooting til they are dead.”

http://www.findlegaladvice.org/forum/Law-Enforcement-Police/Why-are-cops-trained-to-shoot-people-in-the-chest-and-kill-them-342799.htm

But the site above does state repeatedly that LE aims for torso, not to “wing” and that by so doing, they are increasing the odds of killing. So I understand better why this woman needs to be prepared to kill if she’s going to use a firearm in the first place. Thanks.

[katana]

Honey, just follow your instincts and aim low and in the middle. You’ll do alright and the attacker (probably) won’t die. He’ll just wish he had.

[TNdandelion]

She’s probably not ready to have a gun, yet. Maybe she should take a handgun class or self defense type class. My husband carries and I’m fine with that but I’m not ready, myself.

[Fire_on_High]

The word she’s looking for is “Nerf”, then.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Maybe she would be edified by something like “More Guns, Less Crime.” They foisted a big fat lie on her back in Norway, and the same lie comes out every place in the US where easing firearm regulations is proposed. The dreaded bloodbath never comes to pass; rather the murder-minded move on to easier pickings elsewhere and crime rates plummet. There is a reason that the Norwegian Army does not go out armed with lutefisk.

[cblue55]

Too funny! LOL

[Gen.Blather]

Go to gunbroker.com Type in “Judge”

I have on of these. It fires a .410 shotgun shell.
you can get the .410 in anything from rock salt to bird shot to buck shot. The gun is essentially a 5 shot short barrel shotgun.

Now, the problem with shooting not to kill is that the “victim” will sue you. But if he's dead, he won't.

In any case, hearing this thing go off will induce incontinence.

[freedumb2003]

>>Utterly false. Police are trained to shoot at center-mass (chest), and keep shooting until the perp is no longer a threat. In a practical sense, if the perp drops his weapon, then no shot need be fired. If the perp does not, then they will empty the magazine into him, reload, and re-assess.<<

This is a rather strange BANG thread. I put my then-BIL through POST and was the one doing the testing of him from the manual. I know as almost much about POST as almost any in-service officer (again, from the BOOKS — I would NEVER suggest I know what real cops know!)

I am not sure why people here don’t know Rule #2 — everyone who owns or has even handled a firearm knows it. Rules #1 (assume it is loaded for those who don’t know) and #2 (assume you will destroy what you are aiming at) are the very first thing one learns, even as a Boy Scout.

Odd...

[susannah59]

I don't think she's ready.

I carry, and really hope I never have to shoot at anything but targets.

If I ever do, however, I intend to stop whoever I'm shooting at. Their survival is secondary to mine.

[STE=Q]

Non-lethal?

How about a Taser?!

http://www.yourpersonalsecuritystore.com/taser®;

STE=Q

[Carley]

Let her try pepper spray first.

[TNdandelion]

This is absolutely true. The other side of the coin, however, is that if you are going to have a gun (or carry), you have to be 100% responsible for it 100% of the time.

I still have small children hanging on me, digging through my purse looking for bubblegum, etc. When I get over my fear of an accidental shooting/discharge, I'll get one. I'm getting there.

[Leo Farnsworth]

“...I’ve been married at least 3 times that I know of.

JRandomFreeper the lost years?

[TNdandelion]

lol

[Cindy]

Bump to your post no. 13.

[abigailsmybaby]

Get her a slingshot

[HiTech RedNeck]

Keep in mind too that it takes a moment to bring a gun into shooting position and aim, and that moment frequently is enough to scare off a would-be assailant who is not expecting the victim to be armed. (If it isn’t, then pow!) So unlike what lying liberals say, such a confrontation does not necessarily equal even a shooting, let alone a death.

[Melinda in TN]

I wouldn't get her one if she's not willing to kill. I wouldn't want to but would not hesitate if threatened.

When I was preparing for my CCW test several years ago I bought a .380 semi-auto. It was great for the test but my husband was afraid it wasn't powerful enough for a carry gun. I traded it for a snubnose .357 Magnum 5-shot pistol. I carried that for a while and loved it. It was small and would fit anywhere but still powerful. He started worrying that a 5-shot revolver wouldn't be enough so I traded for this Taurus .40cal. PT-100 S&W. Not a chance of hiding this big rascal so it's a good thing that I don't have to in TN. :-)

I didn't think I would like this gun but I love it! It's a lot more accurate than my .357. It might not be as powerful but I think it would do what I need it to do.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Mossad uses the .22 Beretta...in the ear of the individual to be assassinated.