Most people do not grow up and marry a hot Marine who is an expert marksman. No, I am not alluding to my wife’s exceptionally good luck and how she stumbled in to me (though I would totally understand that astute and logical conclusion).

I am actually referring to my own unbelievable good fortune, and how I met my wife.

Whenever people meet my wife, they are usually astonished to learn that she is a former Marine. Her petite build is deceptive, but it did not inhibit her ability to run 3 miles faster than nearly every male Marine in her unit or to do 20 pull-ups, which a lot of male Marines have never accomplished.

Despite her military background, my wife’s experience with guns is probably not all that unlike other women’s.

Prior to her commission in the Marine Corps, she had never fired a gun in her life. For the most part, my wife’s interest in guns has been formed through male influences. Fortunately, the instructors who have trained her have been positive, encouraging, and knowledgeable.

My wife’s interest in guns did not fully develop in the Marines, and instead developed more in support of and in line with my own gun interest. My interest developed after I left the Marines, because I wanted my wife to have an ability to protect herself.

While she was tough enough to max the male Marine’s PFT (physical fitness test), we’re honest about reality:  just about any male Marine would brutalize her in a fist fight. When given a pistol or a rifle, however, she will turn the tables on most any potential threat.

By God’s grace and my wife’s conscious efforts to avoid bad situations, she has not been tested in an actual combat situation. She has, however, trained and prepared with guns to improve her chances should she ever be forced to defend herself.

So, is there some trick to sparking a woman’s interest in guns? Maybe.

The Marine Corps taught my wife and me about leadership. And one of the responsibilities of a leader is to challenge others to step outside their comfort zones. Obviously, this is a foreign concept to most of our politicians who have never served in the military. Instead of encouraging people to be more self-reliant, they constantly seek to make people just comfortable enough to rely on the government for protection.

The seething contempt many bureaucrats have for guns, coupled with the media’s negative portrayal and many women’s simple lack of firearm familiarity deters a lot of women from ever wanting to learn about them. Some politicians have succeeded at nothing more than incapacitating women by instilling in them a false sense of security, along with a fear of guns.

In my wife’s case, she was at least open to learning about guns due to her her time in the Marines, but like a lot of other people, she did not believe she needed one for personal protection. Why should she? She has been blessed her whole life to have not become the victim of an unpredictable criminal attack. But a combination of my curiosity in true crime stories, as well as her own improved understanding of what transpires daily in the news, have convinced her that a gun is now a necessity.

She sees it as a necessity because criminal predators prefer victims that are weaker or just unaware. So, by carrying a gun, she has at least made a criminal’s occupation far riskier should she become a target. Hopefully, she will always avoid an encounter with criminal predators, but if they do not avoid her, she at least will be able to defend herself.

There should be a call for men to encourage every responsible woman they know to at least become familiar with firearms. Motivate them to step outside their comfort zones. At the same time, focus on being positive, patient, and understanding. Those traits go a long way with most anyone, but particularly with ladies.

Not every woman needs to become a steely-eyed-killer Marine. However, every woman would greatly improve her chances of surviving a life-threatening criminal attack if the men in their lives have encouraged her to acquire a firearm and get training on how to use it.