Concealed Carry

My wife's .22 Beretta Pistol

Our state, Oklahoma, now has concealed carry permits.

My wife is not a shooter, doesn't know much about guns, but around 25 years ago she decided she needed a gun and she wanted a semi-automatic.  After thinking about it for a while I bought her the little Beretta .22

It has an easy to load/check tip up barrel. A double action so all she has to do is click off the safety and start pulling the trigger.  Simpler and safer than some such pistols. She has practiced with it maybe three times. :-(

Now she wants a 9 mm Glock and a permit to carry it. I have very mixed feelings; not about the firearm, but about the carry.

When I was a kid we had 'guns', rifles, shotguns, revolvers, pistols in our homes, cars, trucks, but now people call them 'weapons'. I grew up thinking a gun was a tool for hunting, but now many people only see it as a weapon for killing.

The gun didn't change that much, the people did. Back in 1965 my teenage friends and I had an arsenal of 'guns' out in the high school parking lot but I felt safe. Now some high schools have a weapon carrying security guard and I don't feel nearly as safe.

Do I want my wife and other good people walking around armed? I don't think so; good people are emotional, get mad, make mistakes... Could a weapon save her life? Could she, you, or I get in a situation where we'd give anything for a 'weapon'. Possibly, but I believe a weapon is more likely to get a good person injured or in trouble. What do you think?