TexasCHLforum.com

When my wife and I got married, I was not " in to guns". It was a non issue that I had never considered. Guns were not a part of my childhood, and I had only very brief exposure to them.

After we had been married a few years, and had kids, a relative ended up moving in with my parents for about half a year. He had his service .45, and kept it loaded in a sock drawer. When my wife found out, she was very hesitant to let the kids spend tome and Grandma's and Grandpa's house.

When we were in a tight place, and stayed with her parents for a while, we found out after being there for over a month, that there were some rifles in a "closet" (unfinished attic area) and they were even up on top of a ceiling area that you needed a step ladder to access. She was very upset to learn they were there.

Discussions were had, and she was not against guns per say, but they made her personally nervous, and she was very scared one of the kids would get their hands on one, and shoot themselves/each other.

After hurricane Rita, my dad started getting concerned about home/work defense and "casually" got into keeping a gun at their place. But it was locked up in his shop. It wasn't till about a year that he got more serious about it and took a handgun safety class, and CHL class. I also started going to the range with him.

This led to a lot more conversations in our family, and eventually to her going to the range with us. She understands it more now, and it is not so mysterious or frightening. I have my CHL now, and keep a few guns at home. Unless it is in my control, they stay locked up.

She had years of misinformation and negative stereotyping to overcome. Now she is and has been super conservative, but she was not really exposed as a child either. All she knew was years of TV and news saying that a gun in the house = a dead kid.

These days we may be driving or walking somewhere, and something will make her uncomfortable. She asks if I’m "packin" or reach over and pat me to see if it is there. She even questioned locking up the gun at night in a lock box on the other side of the bed room. "What good does it do in there?" Last year, having it not in my pocket meant it needed to be locked up for her not to be worried. Now a days it is under the mattress when I go to bed.



So this is kinda my story of how we progressed from a family of no guns, to an armed family. She does not carry, but she knows how to use them, and has made sure she can get to them in incidences where I will be away. Once day she may carry ( she's been eyeing revolvers), but until then at least she has been willing to to admit that she was, well wrong is not correct, but that she was misinformed on the subject. For her, familiarity was a big part of it. I think she truly saw them as evil black guns waiting to get her kids. Hopefully your GF can come to see why it is such an important right, and why it should be exercised when possible.