Firearms: my husband worked in a sporting goods store for some time. One of the things they sold was firearms. I had never shot a gun in my life and we lived in a rural area. There were wolves, wild cats and a ton of marijuana growers, buyers and sellers in the area. My husband thought that there should be a gun in our home and that I should know how to use it.
I never had to but at least I knew how to use one. He taught me to shoot pistols and rifles. I got to shoot an "over-under air force" gun...I think that was the name of it.
You haven't read Georgette Heyer or Ellis Peters. Georgette Heyer wrote about the Regency period in England. They are romances. She wrote some murder mysteries but I didn't read them. I LOVED her Regency romances. They are famous.
Ellis Peters (woman) wrote about a Benedictine monk from the 11th century. He had been a sailor at one time and a soldier in the Crusades but returned to England to finally settle down. He turned 40+ and knew it was time to settle down. CADFAEL was his name. He grew herbs for the monastery he lived in. He used to solve the local crimes by use of herbs or plants. Great stuff.