Jett says:

This story sounds so similar to the kind of crap my very petite wife gets all the time, it suggests there may actually be some kind of genetic/instinctive misogyny in certain people. Certainly the behavior described clearly identifies an horrifically insecure coward. Two points–wtf cellphone won’t allow a call to 911? Most if not all will dial 911 if you just press and hold the 9. You really need to check into that–if you or your wife do get caught in a gun battle, you definitely want to be able to call 911 for the cavalry and to tell the dispatcher the description of the good guys (i.e., you and your wife) v. bad, so they don’t roll up shooting at you. You also need it for other emergency stuff. Given this idiot’s bold, stupidity, that might’ve been sufficient, though I’ve always found that when seconds count, the police are minutes away.

Re: gun recommendations. The real bottom line is you’ve got to hit what you want to hit and nothing else. That means you and your loved ones need to be able to carry and handle the weapon and practice enough to make it work even under extreme stress. I would not recommend a .45 or .357 for “girly” women. People who aren’t into learning details about a gun’s function, will find revolvers comfortingly simple. They are time-tested equalizers. Anyone who doubts this, doesn’t know much about shooting. A consistently highly praised revolver for the ladies is the Ruger sp101. Stainless, so low maintenance, manageable grips and beautifully balanced, with enough weight to give confidence and counter recoil. My wife tried a bunch of guns and settled on a 2.5 or 3″ barrel .357 sp101. She only occassionally shoots .357, but of course the beauty of a revolver in that caliber is you can also shoot cheap .38 spl target ammo and comfortably use .38 +p for your carry loads. In truth, .357 has too much penetration for urban environments. When I say the most important thing is hitting what you want to “stop,” that entails that your bullet doesn’t go through Mr. MS13 and into the bystander on the opposite sidewalk. In short, if a revolver better suits your wife, steer clear of the over-priced lady smiths and other prettied up pieces and get her an sp101 loaded with the heaviest .38 bullets she can handle (big, cheap soft lead wadcutters are great, because they don’t indicate any sophisticated desire to kill, though they are plenty effective. Of course, go to a range or at least to a gun show or shop where she can hold and handle whatever you’re considering–everyone is different.

If it’s got to be an auto, 40 s&w is overwhelmingly the caliber of choice for female police and has been increasingly adopted for all cops (probably because they’ve got to treat everyone “equally”–the least common denominator approach). Everyone I know who has one, likes it. It is more expensive to shoot, because it’s a newer caliber and there’s no military surplus that I’m aware of. That may affect your practice capabilities. That, only you and your wife can decide.

9mm, particularly the heavier, slower, specialty hollowpoint rounds (like 124 grain hydroshok, if you can get them and if they’ll feed reliably) are quite adequate. Again, the issue is hitting what you’re aiming at. There’s a good deal of surplus ammo around as well as a large civilian market, so it’s relatively inexpensive for practice. I’m big on autos that allow single action fire, because that light trigger and a cockable hammer are options I think could be important in some circumstances. Glock and most more “modern” folks don’t seem to think so. Main thing is how it fits the hand, points, and ease of handling for loading and clearing the inevitable misfeed–more key things to practice, practice, practice.

If, God forbid, you or your wife actually have to “stop” an existential threat, you must also practice strategies to survive both the encounter and the police action afterward. To the police or anyone else, you never shoot or mean to “kill”. If you shoot, you shoot to “stop” the threat. As a practical matter, you don’t care, at that moment, if the AH is killed or just goes away. You just want his attack to stop, completely–three shots center mass, more if needed. No head shots, no crotch shots–that is movie BS and even if you pull it off will cook your goose when the police arrive. Practice what to say and say only what you practice, no matter what. The police are only your friends when they are pursuing someone else. “The attacker was coming with a weapon. He was threatening to kill me. I had no choice, I had to “stop” him before he killed me. I’m too upset to say anymore right now.” If they take you or her in, nothing more without a lawyer. If nothing else, that’ll buy time to get your thoughts together–especially as to a description of the attacker’s weapon and what gave you the clear impression/fear that he was coming to kill you. Also think about why you couldn’t turn tail and escape, rather than fight back–he was too close, if I’d turned away, he’d have killed me for sure, or I couldn’t leave my child or wife or the like. Though many states don’t require you to retreat in order to justify self defense, many do. It will always go smoother if you can convincingly say you were backed into a corner by the attacker. Propagandizing bystanders at the scene with the foregoing, if the police take long enough to arrive is also advisable.

At least the range time can really be fun, quality family time and you won’t have to worry quite so much about where and when you do what you want to do. For me and my wife, implementing the above has given us a level of freedom many of our fellow citizens shudder to imagine. Yet, knocking wood, neither of us has ever had to draw our guns and that in a city that is perennially at the top of the murder and violent crime stats. I think the reality is that when you take on the training and responsibility carrying demands, you’re whole outlook and awareness changes and you become both a much less attractive target for crime and can see it coming from further off to avoid it without confrontation.

God bless and keep you and your wife safe and able to defend yourselves if necessary.

Dave in Dallas says:

In 1991 my wife of one year was carjacked, raped and murdered with a numberless pistol in Cleveland, OH.

I’m happily remarried now for 17 years, and you can bet my present wife is not only a gun owner, but she is good with them and enjoys shooting.

in fact, our gun collection quadrupled from two to eight in the past year and a half. Coincidence? heh.

I hope and pray neither of us ever has to use one. But being unarmed these days is to me a failure of citizenship. I don’t just owe it to my family to be armed, I owe it to everyone I interact with, as a man, as an American. If every American man felt this way and acted on it, crime would practically disappear. Criminals are practical people, not suicidal muslim bombers. If they stand a good chance of being shot, they’ll just say no.

Read The Armed Citizen blog. google it. daily reports straight from newspapers and TV stations about guns used to stop crime, day in, day out, pretty much every day of the year. MILLIONS of crimes have been averted or stopped in this country because victims were armed, or others were armed and intervened. IMAGINE the catastrophic losses if NOBODY were armed except the criminals.

Barack says:

If you are not part of the Obama nation you will be treated like second class citizens. Get the vote out against this fascist pig Obama. Don’t stop this year, or next.Don’t ever let these sort of parasites in office again.

http://dontlikeobama.com/blog/

Barack Obama, liar, anti american,anti military, bad for America,corruption,hypocrit