Absolutely! facts especially the % of fights that take place in less than 15 feet where most cannot pull gun and use it are very informative! I always heard that the chances are higher for officers to get killed by knife than a gun.. LodgedTree considering these facts may I throw out another suggestion in meantime while your preparing learning.. weekend self defense class with good instructor.. and set of car keys or a purse she always carries with a good weight.. the old proverbial roll of quarters in a hand makes average guy punch 10x more effective..
If you are looking for two guns, one for your wife and one for yourself I would look for two different sizes. A small one for your wife (I.e. A M&P shield like suggested) and a larger one for yourself (I.e. A M&P). (Or a Glock or Springfield equivalent) The small guns are very easy to conceal, but you will (and should) spend a lot of time at the range and in training. Because of the smaller size of a subcompact handgun the felt recoil will be more and could potentially scare a new shooter and cause flinch and start to anticipate recoil. Also it's harder to get a good firm grip on a smaller gun for a new shooter to be able to manage recoil. If you get a subcompact for your wife and a compact for yourself (which will be a larger frame gun) your wife will more than likely enjoy shooting the compact more while training.
One of the things we have done here is every time there has been an issue at that meth lab, is to call the police. Not in "ratting them out", but so that it goes down on record. It has helped. The Sheriff here is a good friend and I went and saw him when they first blew into town and told him, "Jeff, I have never came to you for anything even though we have been friends for years. I am telling you these guys are scary and with 4 daughters and a wife, I want to know if they are funny." This is the thing on that. There are two pedophile lists: the one you can find online, but that is only for CONVICTED pedophiles, there is another one too. I know this because as foster parents, whenever a foster child asks for a sleep-over at someones house, the foster care system does a back ground check on that persons house that involves another list, one that includes any CHARGES of sexual misconduct so as to ensure the safety of the child. I wanted to know if they were on either list. Like I said, I have never done that before because I am not one to abuse Jeff's position, and I am not about to rat on anyone. But these guys are SCARY and as I said, I have a pretty wife and 4 daughters. He got back to me and said he talked at length with the police chief where they came from and while not funny with children, there has been enough gun play and overdoses there so that the police are watching the place very closely. But it is a rural area, it still takes awhile for the police to show up. (20 minutes or so).
I handled weapons while I was in the military. I feel I had all I want to do with them, but I will admit that everyone needs something and are prepared to protect yourself. I won't own a gun now, but I encourage every to do what ever is necessary to protect yourself, your family and your property. It is your right, and it only makes sense to defend yourself. I have built my home in a mostly isolated place. I have two large dogs who know how to bark and who knows what else. I have some surveillance as well as security lighting. So far, we haven't been messed with in a violent way.
Count me as a vote for NO safety. In fact, I don't use safeties on any gun except for my bolt action rifle when hiking with a loaded chamber. The safety provides a false sense of security. Treat all guns as loaded and live at all times. I have had my CC permit for almost 20 years now and carry a relatively large frame semi automatic in .40 S&W caliber. I have large hands and like the ruger. However, the large size prevents me from carrying this gun as often as I would like. It's just too big and clumsy. I have chosen to seek the S&W shield in 9mm as posted above due to the sufficient power of a 9mm plus the very small size.
Wow, there have been some awesome responses to this thread. So glad they asked and got a lot of detailed answers with some great repetition. I won't go into any detail myself, most of the previous responses covered anything new I would have added. I can comment on my personal carry and self defense tactics and what is comfortable and works for me. As many have already spoken on, the S&W M&P shield 9mm is my summer carry firearm. Since concealment is more difficult in the warmer months I carry this with a belly band holster vs an IWB. It hides the subcompact Smith well with a t-shirt or polo and there are no worries with it showing when bending over or a t-shirt getting hung up with the IWB holster. The belly band is very comfortable and most times I don't even know I'm wearing it. The Shield itself has a thumb controlled safety and is fairly thin with a single stack magazine. With a pinky extension on the mag you have a little more control with the grip when the gun is drawn. 9mm is what I chose for a few reasons. The rounds are fairly easy to get, the cost is less than the larger calibers and you still have decent magazine capacity with stopping power. Hollow points for defense, use these in carry only magazines. Your range bag should have 3 or 4 clips just for target practice. My winter gun is the G26. I generally carry IWB in the winter because it's easier to access with all the layers I might have on. Concealment is easier in the winter. Clocks don't have the external safeties that you may be looking for. I (as would anyone) treat every firearm as hot, so I train that way too. Range time for you and your wife could be a nice thing to do as a couple. I bring my wife with me at times and she enjoys getting familiar and comfortable with what she's doing. Recoil was the first thing my wife didn't like and it took some time to finally get it down. She would anticipate the recoil before squeezing the trigger and her shots would be high, it took some time to strengthen her wrists and grip the weapon to be a confident shooter.
while i have nothing to add on the choice /self defense part of the conversation i would like to comment on storage, please be sure to leave a bit in the budget for a proper safe or other container for when the weapon is not under your direct control ,you mentioned some unsavory neighbors and of course you want to keep them away from your children so both childproof and theft proof storage needs have to be addressed .
Since training was mentioned above, I'm going to drop this here to show that the training works. Just owning a gun, isn't enough. Having your head on straight in a crazy situation will help keep you and possibly others alive. The article is about the person who shot the mall stabbing assailant in Minnesota this weekend. Man Who Shot Crossroads Mall Terrorist Is USPSA Competitor, 3-Gun Shooter
