Please note: today’s question reflects the fact that TTAG readers are overwhelmingly male. Let’s try that again. Men account for the majority of our readers; they don’t suffer from an excess of testosterone. Women and members of the LGBTQ community can answer substituting the phrase “significant other” for “your woman.” As a twice divorced OWFG, I can assure you that “your” is not meant to imply ownership. So . . .

desantis-blue-logo-no-back-4-smallWomen are taking to keeping and bearing arms in record numbers. I’m not sure exactly why that is. I could say something about women being generally smaller and more of a target than men, but, as the English say, the first step to getting out of a hole is to stop digging. Anyway, is the woman in your life armed? How and when did that happen?

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63 COMMENTS

  1. Not as often as she should be, but we’re getting there. Bought her first carry pistol a couple of months ago.

    • Same with mine. Its been 20-some years of encouragement, but she is slowly getting on board. Bought her a .22 a couple years ago. Now she’s very possessive of it – she makes it very clear that its HER gun. She’ll be regularly packing before too long.

    • My wife has had her carry permit longer than I have-and the gift that she liked best that I got her was a Stag Left handed AR upper (she’s a southpaw).

  4. No. I honestly don’t anticipate it ever happening. I do maintain hope, though. Stranger things have happened.

    • Ditto. My wife won’t touch a gun unless it was made prior to 1873, and then only to admire how beautiful it is. Semi-autos are strictly off limits. My daughter, on the other hand, has been trained, and owns two handguns (due to the generosity of her father who doesn’t think a beautiful young woman in Cleveland should be unarmed), but hasn’t had time to take her CCW class.

  10. My wife is a crack shot with a long gun, as she grew up hunting with her father, but she can manage a pistol. Our “bump in the night” plan arms us both, but she doesn’t carry. I carry everywhere I’m allowed, including at home.

  11. My wife owns a .357 Ruger SP101, but refuses to practice or carry while at home.

    Doesn’t want to use it, doesn’t want to sell it. I’m befuddled.

    • Just like my wife and her motorcycle. Every Spring I want to sell it since she never rides it and every Spring she says: ‘Don’t, this year I’ll learn to ride, just wait and see!’ .
      As the Summer changes into Autumn I counted all the times we took her bike out – and it’s zero again… Well, there is always next year.

      She shoots sometimes with me and our kids (not badly), but is not excited about it. Today I told her about Ladies free Mondays on our local indoor range and she just goes: ‘Meh’.
      I gave her the code to my small safe box with loaded pistol ready inside. She already forgot it several times. When you ask her how will she protect herself and our children if someone breaks into our home she claims she’s going to freeze and start crying unable to move.
      I think my wife is the one person grabbers talk about when they say that your weapon will be taken from you and used against you in self defense situation.
      Woman just have to know her limitations.

      • “She shoots sometimes with me … (not badly), …”

        Same here. My wife is a decent shot, but as in your situation, just not interested to do anything more. I am concerned for her safety when I’m not at home because of that.

        Again, I’m befuddled.

  12. Yes. Surprisingly, as a result of a father-in-law showing a later in life interest. He was a bit reclusive while the kids were growing up, and I think both parties saw this as a chance to bond.

  13. My Mrs. carries all the time.
    She is also a better shot than me, so when the SHTF I’ll probably just duck behind her.

  14. Funny that posting a paragraph in defense of the title was deemed easier than simply alerting the title slightly.

  16. First response – Darn skippy she is. Ruger SR40c. We got our CHPs in VA two years ago together.
    Second response – She would take exception to being labeled my (your) woman. I on the other hand ARE hers, and everything I own.
    34 years and counting…

    • Yeah, yeah, yeah, what took you so long? We’re at 49 years and counting, but I bought her her first carry pistol 2 years *before* we were married, in 1965. Which means she has not only been armed, but carrying, for over 50 years. Moved from a Beretta Jetfire .25 auto to a Colt Detective Special .38 around 1972, to a Sig P230 .380 around 1995, to a S&W Airweight .38 around 2008. Armed? You bet your sweet ass she is! OTOH, like yourself, I am fully aware of who belongs to who.

  18. Talk about teeing one up for Cali-Zim and Illini Zim.

    I can’t wait for the in-depth personal details upcoming! Hopefully, they will even include the ex-wives stories.

      • No input from me on this story. I don’t spill the Facebook-esqe details of my Queen’s life on the Internets.

  19. Yes. She only carries if she’s freaked out about something (like the Orlando terrorist attack) and I can’t go with her. But she’s ready and willing to protect our home with it, so that’s a good thing.

    My daughter is too young to legally own or carry a firearm, but she’s planning to do so when she’s able. (If we can keep the Democrats from taking away her rights first.) For now, she’s armed with a concealable fixed-blade knife that goes everywhere with her.

  20. My wife has several pistols, both for concealed carry and range time, a semi-automatic twelve gauge shotgun, an AR-15, and a Cx4 Storm.

    The question isn’t ‘is my wife armed?’ but rather ‘am I ever late coming home from work?’

    No, I am not and dinner is always delicious.

  21. Well,

    Several tiny women in my life decided to tote equalizers, sadly after neighborhoods got sketchier or some disturbing (but not as terrible as could be) encounters. Where the safety gun resides was part of the briefing on my last solo mom-wrangling shift. Bears are getting less shy of humans in the Pennsyltucky hills where she resides. Other predators, too, sadly.

    Shockingly, The Evil Death Machines have to date sat inert, where they’ve been put. Neither have they attracted curiosity and stupidity by the unfamiliar. (Maybe because they are neither advertised nor brandished.) Nor have they inspired their owners, or even myself (OFWG that I am) to murderous rampage. I don’t even feel the need to tacti-tool up w camo and velcro n strut around. Even the logos on my baseball caps remain bands, commercial, or nerd humor. Not a “molan labe” to be seen.

    I begin to wonder if we were cheated in our purchases. Indeed, I have only even handled one of these arms, once, to identify controls & feel how it points. M&P .40. It points.

    I can make a case for more practice. The tiny women practice, adding ammo to the inventory of acceptable casual gifts. Me, I’ll get to that as recovery allows. In the meanwhile, I retain the option to change the odds somewhat, some of the time.

    … and if one of the tiny women is around, she can save me. I’m OK with that.

  22. Bought a Bersa DT 380 five years ago for my wife. She has been to the range with me all of once. Got spooked by AK noise. The DT has become a safe queen. My 16 y.o. daughter on the other hand, jumps when I whisper the word range. She has become quite the shot with a .22 revolver I acquired for her at 12. Yesterday she demonstrated she is daddy’s girl at the range again. I love seeing the zombie targets change colors as Emily rekills the undead.

  23. Sort of.

    The wife has all the guns, gear, and training, but doesn’t seem to have mindset to put it all together.

    She’ll change her and the kids clothes ten times before she goes out, she has to make sure the one yrs old’s hair is cute, and everyone’s shoes damn sure better match their outfits. But, she’ll leave her G26 at the house 4 times out of 5 and she’ll drive to hell and back with the gas light on in her SUV…

    I’ve finally just decided I cannot change her anymore than she can change me, so I carry two guns. I figure if things go south, I can toss her my BUG and tell her to hunker down/flee with the kids.

    Also, I pay the extra money for roadside assistance. Gotta pick your battles, as it were.

  25. Hell, MY wife got ME onboard the pro-2A train. Now maybe she wishes she hadn’t, it’s become one of my favorite hobbies/passions.

    She probably doesn’t get to the range as much as I’d like but her collection is better than mine, in several respects.

  26. I am a woman and my husband bought me a concealed carry class for my 21st birthday. That was his not-so-subtle “Hey go get your damn permit” nudge. But it worked! And I now carry daily. I also played the same trick on my sister and sister-in-law and it’s 2 for 2! So that’s always a good idea.

    I think women- especially with children- are starting to carry to protect their children and themselves. There is so much crazy going on right now that you’d be pretty naive to think something couldn’t happen to you.

  29. Yeah she’s armed. And she’s extremely pro-gun and wouldn’t hesitate to use it protect herself or her loved ones…

  30. Yes. With what depends on what she’s doing. Going to class it’s a G27. Around town a G21. Sometimes it’s an XD 3.3 .45. For the proverbial “bump in the night” she has a Mossy M590A1 locked to the wall on her side of the bed and she’s surgical with that thing. She’s also in the habit of traveling with a Ruger Gunsight Scout in her truck. That said, her real affinity is for knives. She always has a pocket knife and a push dagger on her. Her truck is like a damn knife store, there are knives stashed everywhere.

    Honestly, if I wasn’t a “gun nut” she’d scare me.

    For those who say that it’s hard to conceal a full sized pistol; my wife is 5’3″, about 125lbs and she pulls it off. You can too.

  31. The woman formerly in my life was armed — and nobody could be more frightened of her than I was.

  32. It’s one of the good points about my ex wife. She was armed 24/7 where allowed by law. My 18 year old daughter has been shooting since she was 5 and will get her 3rd firearm for Christmas. Now that I am back in the dating game, on the list of the critical items a prospective date must have, aside from having all her teeth and poor vision, is being at the least solidly pro 2A

  34. Yep, she sure does..concealed…(we live in Florida so concealed only) either an LCP or a SW M&P Shield 9 depending on her outfit.. you know what I mean fellas.. She carries every time she leaves the house.Now if I could just get her to carry on her person instead of her “carry” purse I’d be a lot happier but I’ll take what I can get. She may come around eventually..She has been carrying for about three years. She decided that she was not gonna be a victim if she had anything to do with it… Oh, BTW I sure am getting tired of chasing that ad all across my screen to get rid of it.. I know ads are necessary but this one is just obnoxious. if I want to do business with them I will click on them but these guys make me not want to do business with them.

  35. My wife jokes about being the “M&P girl.” Compact 9 for EDC and occasional IDPA matches, full size M&P 9, full size M&P 22.

    She also stole my 10/22, my PMR30 (now her favorite range toy because of the muzzle blast & fireball), and my Mossy 930 Tactical. She loves that shotgun. Got her a JRC in 9mm that uses Glock mags for 3 gun.

    She grumps about the local ranges basically having no opportunity for dynamic practicing, other than matches.

    And a drop dead gorgeous 6′ tall redhead. Eat yer hearts out, me buckos.

  37. When I met my wife, she was a marathoner, amateur boxer, and thoroughly anti gun. She said she could handle herself just fine unarmed. After dating for a while, I told her if she could keep me from taking her to ground, I would drop the “you need to carry” routine. I told not to pull any punches ( which she oddly was rather enthused about and promised she would give it all she had). My wife is a very tough woman, but she didn’t stand a chance against me. I am well over six feet, was at the time around 245, I have martial arts and wrestling in my background. I even left her tag me with a wicked left hook to show her that in real life that doesn’t send someone flying like the movies (hurt like hell though).This was enough to convince her. 10 years later, her firearms collection rivals mine and she carries everyday. She happens to a natural shot with a pistol and is terrifyingly good with a rifle out to 500 yards.

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