Any Advice For Teaching A Woman To Shoot?

[springfield24]

We keep a loaded Glock 17 at home for our "home defense" gun. The only problem is that my wife has never been out to shoot it. So, I tried taking her to the range and it was a DISASTER! Out of a new box of 9MM, two rounds were fired...one of those rounds was fired by me. There was crying, and yelling and I thought that for a second I was going to be left there on the range clutching my bleeding mid-section. Fortunately, my wife can't drive a car with a standard transmission so I was permitted to live.

Long story short...I could use some advice on training a female with some...interesting...views on guns (not against them...but definitely not a fan of them).

Thanks.

[Adam-12]

My advice: get someone else to do it. Men do a notoriously horrible job teaching their significant other to shoot.

[LilEMT]

My advice: get someone else to do it. Men do a notoriously horrible job teaching their significant other to shoot.

BINGO!

As a woman I can tell you that I have had a few arguments with my SO at the range while learning to shoot. It can be very frustrating. Send her to a class thats low pressure and fun, someone mentioned an all female class. It may make her more comfortable. If you have a female friend that shoots or someone used to teaching children to shoot that understands how to deal with delicate situations that may also be a good option that doesn't cost any more than maybe a box of ammo and a beer.

Good luck with it. Just remember, she needs to learn at HER PACE not yours. The main goal is for her to enjoy it and want to do it. Not to have it as a chore. Another idea would be for you two to enroll in a class together, have fun at the class, then go out for a nice dinner afterwards to make it a fun and rewarding evening.

Keep us posted on how it goes for you.

Nikki

[GuyMontag]

My advice: get someone else to do it.

Completely agree.

[gnbrotz]

My advice: get someone else to do it. Men do a notoriously horrible job teaching their significant other to shoot.

Agree completely. My dad asked me to take my mom to the range for that very reason.

[YBNORMAL]

Take it reaaaaallly sloooow and don't do any correcting unless she breaks one of the 4 rules. You should be able to get by with being firm about them because she will realize safety is number one.

Once she is shooting safely, introduce some competition into it. Then when/if she needs some help getting more proficient (assuming you are yourself proficient), then you can giver her some "pointers". Even then though, you have to go really slow.

Like somebody else posted, she will set the pace, and before you know it, you won't have a single round of ammo left when you go to the range, at that point yer gonna have to get her to start buying ammo .

Show her this website too, she will have some fun at your expense, but she should open up a little. My wife did anyway.

http://corneredcat.com/Men/wifehateguns.aspx

[P-11 shooter]

My advice: get someone else to do it. Men do a notoriously horrible job teaching their significant other to shoot.

Fantastic advice.

The coupls times I taught a girl to shoot for the first time I just focused on safety, and hot to properly hold, and fire the gun. Don't start with small targets like cans or small bullseye targets. Start with a bigger target and don't worry about accuracy. That will come later.

If you can the best option is a one day handgun course. FIRE institute does some amazing classes.

[smithwessn]

+1 to starting out with a .22.

Patience is key on your part and her's.

[mike231]

The first time my fiance shot it was with my father and I.When we got there he told me to go over to the pistol range and don't bother them !He started by telling her to treat the firearm like a running garden hose and to not get anyone wet with the hose.After go over the basics of loading and firing the gun he handed her a .22 rifle bolt action and had her shot at targets at 25yrds.She did great.After about 50 rounds w/the 22 they came over to the pistol range and kicked me out again.After going over the basics of a .22 S&W semi pistol she was firing away.I was very impressed with her shooting at 10yrds.After they were done he told me you have to make it fun low stress and safe.She has aquired a LTCF.We have been to the range atleast 20times since,she has shot a .25,357,40,9mm 12guage and a 243 she won't shot my Glock30 she says it doesn't feel right in her hand.I have never pressured her to shot any gun she doesn't want to.The 1 thing I hate more than anything is the assbag who hands a first timer a 44mag or a 12guage w/3.5 mag slug in it.Just make it fun and safe and you will more than likely have a pro-gunner for life.

[mauser]

Let me ask a question before I can weigh in on this one:
Who was doing the yelling, you, her, or both of you?
If it was both, who started yelling first, and why?

In any event, if there was yelling there was way too much tension and it wasn't a good time to start. She has to be a willing participant and you have to be a patient teacher. If you don't have those 2 things in place you shouldn't proceed at all.
At this point, if she has any interest or desire to learn you should follow the advice that seems to be unanimous, get someone else to guide her into it.
If she had little to no interest in the first place you were doomed right from the start. It's kinda like sex, (or anything else for that matter) she has to want to do it rather than be forced into it.
If it was an all around bad situation you may have to just back off and wait until she decides she wants to learn. If you're putting pressure on her to do something she isn't ready to do it won't make a difference who tries to teach her.