Poll: How 'Normal' is your Relationship - has your gun hobby hurt or helped?

[Captain O]

An unhappy man once told me. ''If it fly's, floats, or fornicates? Rent it!''

I haven't had any "peter problems" in over 34 years. (I'm pretty darned selective).

 

[CoastRange57]

All women appreciate diamonds, gold and silver. Any gal who digs lead too deserves three thumbs up!

My wife of 29 years has no diamonds and very little gold and silver. She does not want any. We could afford it if she did. I ramped up my gun "collecting" about 15 years ago, wanting to get our kids headed the right direction. She was all for it. 3 of the boys went in the Marine Corps and all qualified expert. I have one more gun, a black powder pistol to buy and that will likely be my last for a long time, and I am good with that.

She is getting free reign to do what she wants with the new house we are building, but with her frugal nature I will have to prod her to get a couple things she wants. This woman stood at the foot of my hospital bed for 2 months with a stick beating the mfing Reaper away from me, and she is the only reason I still breathe.

 

[11Charlie]

My wife of 29 years has no diamonds and very little gold and silver. She does not want any. We could afford it if she did. I ramped up my gun "collecting" about 15 years ago, wanting to get our kids headed the right direction. She was all for it. 3 of the boys went in the Marine Corps and all qualified expert. I have one more gun, a black powder pistol to buy and that will likely be my last for a long time, and I am good with that.

She is getting free reign to do what she wants with the new house we are building, but with her frugal nature I will have to prod her to get a couple things she wants. This woman stood at the foot of my hospital bed for 2 months with a stick beating the mfing Reaper away from me, and she is the only reason I still breathe.

That makes me smile

 

[etrain16]

Neither hurt nor helped the relationship, though the relationship, with regard to guns has matured over the years. My wife does like to shoot, but doesn't get the urge to go to the range much. If I invite her to go, she'll join me, sometimes - and she's a good shot too. As for the guns I own, she couldn't tell you how many or what I own (she could name a few). She's never put a limit on anything I wanted to add. And pre-SB941, my collection shifted a lot as I sold items to buy other items. When it comes to that stuff, I only tell her if I think she'll be interested. For purchases, if it's a big one, she's in on it. For little stuff like a box of ammo or a magazine, etc., no need to tell her. We both trust each other not to spend ourselves into oblivion. I don't monitor her, she doesn't monitor me - we both know when a purchase needs to be run by the other.

When it comes to this hobby - both the fun side and the serious side, well, she likes to see me happy, so she likes to see me go to shoot. She likes to see me take classes. She likes to see me buy something I really want. But again, we keep it on a steady level since we're a single income family and I do want to retire some day

Last year she started getting serious about wanting to carry. She's had her CHL (currently expired) as long as I have, but never carried. She wants to re-up her CHL, find a good carry pistol and get some training/practice with it. She's seeing how the world's been going and she's always glad to know I'm carrying. But when I'm not around, she wants to be better prepared herself.

We'll be celebrating 25 years in July and we're probably doing better now then we did 25 years ago. Mrs. Etrain is good people

 

[Diamondback]

Suggestion, @etrain16 : While it's more convenient to do your renewals at the same time, it might be more prudent to space them out so that one re-ups halfway through the other's term so one of you is legal at all times even if the other misses or is stuck in limbo waiting. (Here in WA, if your old permit expires before new is in hand, No Carry For You! And oh BTW, the renewal term is from date of app and not cumulative to "current expiry plus five years" like most places...)

 

[etrain16]

Suggestion, @etrain16 : While it's more convenient to do your renewals at the same time, it might be more prudent to space them out so that one re-ups halfway through the other's term so one of you is legal at all times even if the other misses or is stuck in limbo waiting. (Here in WA, if your old permit expires before new is in hand, No Carry For You! And oh BTW, the renewal term is from date of app and not cumulative to "current expiry plus five years" like most places...)

That is a good point. As it stands right now, we're staggered on renewal dates since hers lapsed. I just need to make the appointment to get her in and get it done, hopefully in the next few weeks.

 

[The Heretic]

I don't have a "relationship" - unless you count someone I talk to only that lives about 1500 miles away that I have never met in person.

I like her, but I am pretty sure we have different views about gun control and that has been an issue that has been one of the minor reasons why I have not tried to take that "relationship" any further than the periodic "how are you doing today?" and sending her a valentine's day card.

If it was just me/myself/I, then I wouldn't worry too much, but I have my daughter to think about - my daughter being the person who is foremost in my thoughts, including prepping (which in turn includes firearms).

So this long distance person knows I have firearms - but doesn't have a clue as to how many or how strongly I feel about them, and when I broach the subject a little, she seems unconcerned but I think she would be more concerned if she knew the depth of my "hobby".

Moreover, I have trust issues, especially when it comes to that "hobby". Romantic relationships can (and have) dissolved with hard feelings on both sides. My ex-wife tried to hurt me a number of different ways, and if it occurred to her that she could report on me someway regarding firearms I would not put it past her (all my firearms are legal, but she is mental and not at all above lying about anything if she thinks it would benefit her in some way).

I think it would be the very extraordinary person who could be anti-gun and at the same time refrain from reporting an ex who has many "evil" guns should it come down to it. So I just avoid getting romantically involved with such people.

Yes, my ex had issues with the very limited amount of money I spent on guns when we were married, but it wasn't the guns, it was the money - which I earned and she spent.

Should I ever get into a relationship again it will most likely be someone that shares most of my political views and has no problem with me maintaining my own finances separate from hers. There again, I have significant assets that are meant to go solely to my daughter if anything should happen to me, and no one else is ever going to have a right to claim any of those assets if I have anything to say about it.

 

[The Heretic]

when i met my wife she was full blown anti gun. Less than a year later we were married and while she doesnt enjoy shooting she has never asked me to get rid of any of them, in fact the first present she wanted to get me was a rem 700 because i had been talking about one so much. Her words are "i dont get it but you love em and i love you" Needless to say she is not anti gun anymore, that went out the door by the end of our first date.

I don't expect someone to change their views on guns just because I have a lot of them and they like me, anymore than they should expect me to get rid of them because they are anti-gun or pro gun control. I don't trust people who can change their views so easily. As I said in my previous post, I have seen what a woman scorned can do and I just do not trust other people for the most part.