'My Wife Won't Allow a Gun in the House'

I actually heard someone say that one time and asked: "What is she prepared to do if someone brings one in anyway?"

I bring that up because a frequent correspondent emailed me a story about one of his friends whose wife won't let him get a gun in this time of panic buying. He thought he'd had her talked into it, but she balked outside the gun store, partially because "of the people waiting in the parking lot - some douche bags showing off their big, bad dogs. Morons."

I share this for two reasons:

One is to point out how anyone who lets that scare them off and paralyze them into inaction would probably be worse than useless in a DGU situation. Until both these people work on their ability to process reality and personal responsibility, just adding hardware is unlikely to solve their vulnerability issues.

Two is because "our side" needs to recognize that hoplophobia is very real for some, and behavior that intimidates nervous newcomers like this woman is even less helpful than the stereotypical bloviating gun store clerk with an obnoxious, know-it-all attitude.

In fairness, who knows if the dog owners really were morons? The account I read had the wife scared and swayed by practically everything and the husband feeding her neuroses. I could say I'd have escorted my wife into the store, but I wouldn't have had to: I made sure mine was receptive on our third date when I took her to the range, well before any commitments had been made.