How to teach your girlfriend to hate guns
January 1st, 2008 by Syd
I have seen this scenario way too many times: chuckle-head boyfriend takes unsuspecting significant other to the range; puts incredibly powerful handgun in her hands with no preparation or warning, and then laughs his butt off when the gun predictably flies back and hits the girl or worse. There was a case a few years ago in which some numbskull did this with a Ruger Red Hawk in .44 Magnum. He was standing behind his girlfriend when she fired. The gun rotated back with the recoil but the girl managed to hang onto the gun. Being double action, the pistol fired again as she struggled to hang onto it and shot her boyfriend right between the eyes. A bit of poetic justice, perhaps, but a senseless tragedy just the same.
So what does this accomplish beyond some momentary sadistic entertainment for the perpetrators? Well, to start with, it subjects your lady to ridicule that she is going to remember for a long time and feel bad about. It may very well damage her pretty face or cause even more serious injury. She’ll really appreciate that and think you’re just a wonderful guy for helping her to break her nose. It’s going to make her afraid of guns, making future training on reasonable sized handguns difficult if not impossible, and it’s going to confirm her suspicion that guns are dangerous and unmanageable things that she really doesn’t want to be around.
One of the continuing pleasures of my marriage is that my wife likes to go shooting with me. I treasure the time we spend together on the range. It’s a lot more fun than going alone. But guess what: the first time I took her to the range, I didn’t put a .50 caliber Desert Eagle or .44 Magnum in her hands and then stand there and laugh my stupid butt off when the gun and the inexperienced shooter produced the predictable result.
This stuff pisses me off so bad I’m just sorry that I wasn’t there to kick this idiot’s ass.* It’s dangerous and emotionally abusive.
You can make a shooting partner for life or someone who thinks you’re a creep by how you introduce your significant other to firearms. Don’t do what this jerk did.
*Folks, this is a rhetorical expression of frustration and contempt and is not intended as real-world tactical approach to domestic situations… although I have to admit that I would be real-world sorely tempted.
to add to this entirely justified screed about gfs/spouses/SOs v. morons…
for MOST guys, the best advice would be do NOT teach your lady to shoot YOURSELF. the majority men just cannot separate their egos from teaching the near and dear to shoot without doing more damage than good.
hire it out. a lot of ranges and clubs have women only training. the cost will be worth it in the long run, esp if you’re as lucky as syd to end up with a partner that will shoot With you.
of course, she might just turn out to be better than you…life ain’t fair…
S
I completely agree, and that’s a good point. For the record, most of Marian’s substantial training has been done by the guru, not me. When we go to to a training session, I shut up and shoot my game and let Jim work with her. I will help her get her speed loaders loaded but beyond that I let her go. I had to get her started because she wasn’t going to just go out and find a stranger to teach her to shoot.
[…] Syd has an excellent take on the video circulating of the girl smacking herself int he face with a recoiling Desert Eagle. […]
knowing how most woemens mind work , had you kicked his ass she would have shot you with the DE…
know of too many ‘domestics’ where the ’savior’ ended up getting both parties on his case…
I agree with Syd. This guy was a jackass. I saw the video last night and all I could think was how stupid he was for treating her this way.
[…] SIH points to this spot on commentary by Syd on the “DE meets face” video. […]
I saw the exact same thing the other day. Jackass has his girl fire a 9mm. She doesn’t like the recoil so the jackass hands her a .357.
When you watch the video frame by frame, you can see that she did an excellent job controlling her trigger finger. Kudos to her, and he does need a good thrashing (but you could tell that by the shirt he wore)
Jackass probably doesn’t have a girlfriend anymore, or if he does she’s an idiot.
redeux - it’s pretty obvious that you do not know how most woemens mind [sic] work.
It’s interesting to me how often I see misogyny poorly disguised as blog comments.
That guy is a real jerk.If it was an accident I doubt if he would have had a camera running.If this weren’t a public area I’d have some other not so polite things to say re: this situation.tom.
Wholeheartedly agreed.
Pranks like this are not only dangerous but also a surefire way to keep a significant other from understanding what a gun truly is.
Instead of perpetuating the stereotype, make the event truly revealing: start an inexperienced shooter with training and something small and get him/her to build up their knowledge, experience, and confidence to use weapons, eventually graduating to large calibers.
Whenever I have a girlfriend, I’ll try to take her out shooting, but I’ll “indoctrinate” her, not victimize her. I want a significant other to shoot with, not one who will vote against mine, and subsequently, her own right to bear arms when necessary. - Reinhart
That chump should have been thumped in the head with the Desert Eagle a couple times. He’s stupid for putting her through this. He’s stupid for not firing it himself before allowing her to do so in order for her to see what it could do. He’s really stupid for not watching her and correcting her grip/stance before she fired. I sat wondering where the hell he was before she fired because I could see from how she was holding the pistol that she was going to get smacked.. I am fortunate that my wife grew up in West Tennessee in the 1950s and 1960s and knew the fundamnetals of firing weapons. After we started on the range by doing all the basics first and working up she then wanted her own handgun. We shopped and fired until she found a stainless .357 snubby she could fire with skill and no discomfort. She keeps .38spls in it and she even still likes me.
Don’t forget about the long gun Syd. I worked a public gun range for a long while, and I learned that the best way to make sure women hate hunting class guns too is by tell them to “get right up on the scope” before they pull the trigger. I was trying to stop bleeding eyebrows while the guys just laughed and laughed. Unfortunately, I think the guys that do this have experienced it themselves, and it simply becomes right of passage (they think) for everyone to experience it while learning to shoot. Idiots…
And it’s saliva-soaked Man-Show wannabees like him that fuel the anti’s view of us as drooling idjits…and give them the ammo they need to paint the picture that makes the rest of the public feel the same….
The girl is going through a phase where she is attracted to low-rent subhumans….hopefully for her sake she’ll grow up before she provides it breeding material….
I was thrilled when my wife told me she wanted me to teach her how to handle a semiautomatic handgun. I started her the same way my teacher started me….with a .22. She did well, going through about a 1/2 box of ammo, then asked to try the .40 cal I was using…25 ft, first shot, right between the eyes of the target…..she got started right and enjoys it. I love spending time with her and now something we both enjoy.
As youve all said, the guy in the vid is a jackassss. I hope she dumped him…
Let me guess, there was alcohol involved???
I am so sorry for this woman. It would be bad enough to have this happen, just flat out embarrassing. But then to have it posted on the web like it is—how HUMILIATING! This is the type of course and crud behavior thats simply unsatisfactory. Forget that a handgun is involved its just the adolescent immature behavior that is so unbecoming of one person to another. Add the handgun back in and you have got malice with indifference. Couple that to the lack of respect and loss of dignity she has incurred at the expense of someone else’s lack of integrity. This is simply unbecoming of a man let alone a handgun owner.
He is a cad and bounder, and deserves a stout hiding, he does. He deserves a thrashing just for wearing that shirt in public. To borrow a phrase, “some father or brother needs to break his nose.”
What a jerk this guy was, especially knowing it was being filmed! This is exactly why I had my spouse take lessons from a professional instructor when she expressed interest. Now we both go to the range and shooting practice is something we do together.
I taught my GF how to shoot with a .38 special that was left to her by her grandmother. It went so well that the first 15 rounds were within the “kill zone” on the silloute that she was using. Now she has her CCW permit carries the .38 and shoots a .45 for fun!! She now has better days at the range then I do, and we love every minute spent there!!
this guy is a complete jerk! when i taught my then new wife to shoot we started with a .22, when she got comfortable with that she moved up to a .380 which was her “comfort level” and stopped there. when my daughter began shooting she, by choice, started with my m1911a1 after watching me shoot it. she later bought her own govt. model colt in 9mm para, preferring its lighter recoil, now as an adult shooter she still likes that 9mm colt. now we’re starting my grand daughter on the same path with grandma’s .22 pistol and her own “cricket” .22 rifle. no fear, no surprises, just good family fun.
“gunner”