+1 on getting as many types of firearms in her hands as she can before she makes her final (or first?) purchase.
+1 on getting formal training -- makes a HUGE difference.
+1 on trying to avoid off-body (purse) carry as there are just tooooo many things that can go wrong with that.
Read these threads:
http://ingunowners.com/forums/women_...your_life.html http://ingunowners.com/forums/women_...un_owners.html
Especially Cornered Cat:
Cornered Cat -- EXCELLENT resource for women that covers what to carry, how to carry, why to carry, and a variety of other topics related to carrying that are important to women. Written for women, by women (well, A woman, with a plethora of input from other women).
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NIFT 
That said, the primary and absolute requirement for any defensive firearm is 100% reliability under all conditions. One gun-caused malfuntion is too many! Some ladies have a hard time racking slides on semi-autos, and a revolver is a better choice for them. I recommend either Ruger or Smith & Wesson revolvers in .38 or .357 mag., and I supply those guns to my students, with ammunition, to use in my basic NRA classes.
For semi-autos, again, absolute reliability is the primary consideration.
Glocks, Springfields, Sigs, Berettas, are good choices, but I recommend guns with fewer "gizmos," such as external safeties, decockers, and so on. In a deadly force encounter, fine motor skills go away, and, for that reason, I don't recommend 1911 types for beginners; plus, many 1911 models are prone to malfunction. |
Be very, VERY careful how you choose to state these truths. From personal experience, some women will take offense to the "you can't handle this because you're a woman" approach and immediately choose the most complicated semi-auto available (such as a DA/SA SIG Mosquito or P226). Be sure to clearly state that
beginners (women AND men) have issues with certain types of pistols, and explain it similarly to the second highlighted statement above rather than the first. If you MUST point out that slides are difficult to rack due to weaker hand/arm strength, be sure to point that out, not necessarily because she's female. Have her try to rack several as she's looking at the guns in the case -- I certainly turned down several models just because I couldn't rack the slide. Even as a newbie, I recognized that I wouldn't be able to do that in an emergency situation.
Choose simpler pistols because she's a beginner, not because she's a woman. Be very, VERY clear about that.
