During my deployment to Iraq, one of my close friends in the unit was enjoying a call home to his wife. It happened to be late at night her time, and while they were speaking a man started trying to force his way into the apartment, where she was alone. My buddy told her to retrieve her firearm (that he had instructed her how to use) and then call 911 immediately. He hung up and then had to sit, pray and wait while being thousands of miles away and totally unable to help.
After an agonizing delay, he learned that the police had arrived and forcibly subdued the drunken creep before he was able to enter the apartment. He damaged their door, but the deadbolt held and that kept his wife from having to make a deadly force decision while already under the stress that comes with having a husband deployed to a combat zone. While we discussed the incident later, I clearly remember how glad he was that he had armed and trained his wife to protect herself.
When it comes time to hit the range, the wife is often times left at home. This is understandable because she often isn’t nearly as interested in recreational shooting/training and also has many duties that occupy her time in the home. However, don’t neglect to prepare her for a deadly force situation. The best answer is to invest in professional training for her as well, but if this isn’t possible look for ways to include her in your range trips and work on dry fire/scenarios at home.
Martha Lewis displayed the presence of mind to arm herself, arm her children, call 911, and successfully use her firearm to defend her family. Image source: WVTM-TV
This Alabama woman was home alone with her daughters when she was forced to shoot a late night home invader. Amazingly, she had the presence of mind to call 911, arm herself, direct her daughters to arm themselves, and still confront and stop the intruder before he caused any harm to the family. Obviously, she gets it: “There‘s so much talk about banning guns and gun control but they’re for protection,” she said. “There’s no way that I could have fought him off.”
Jon, you said it brother. The “other half” is usually more than half of the defense equation when the threat and the risk assessment is looked at realistically. You are so right, they (the better sex) usually dont have the same desire to spend time in the heat, rain, snow, dirt, insects, noise etc etc. That is not intended as a negative comment, just as an observation. Luckily my better half is pretty swithced on and does a good job of trying to convince her peers little by little to get their minds right. I think the general mindset for some of them is one of the old “I will rise to the occasion” rather than the “perform at the highest level of training.” One thing I have seen work time and again is getting more than one wife to participate in a training event. The women I know like to do things as a group; it is just the way things are. – AT
Great post… I’ve been tellin’ folks for years… I see guys trained and prepped and equipped to take on a platoon of zombies or meth-head burglars…
…and their plans go right out the door the second something happens and they haven’t included their wife… or their kids in the plans…
Dann in Ohio