TexasCHLforum.com

I am in the exact situation as the OP, except that I had my guns and my CHL before I even met her. My wife is deathly afraid of guns, to the point that it is almost humorous. On a recent trip to Vegas, we participated in a use of force simulator where we played police officers deciding whether to shoot. We used CO2 guns that had no projectile whatsoever. Just bursts of air. During the initial orientation / target practice, her hand was shaking and she took about 5 seconds to fully pull the trigger. The few times I have gotten her to a real range, I'm lucky if she fires more than 2 rounds before she wants to leave.

She initially gave me a very hard time about carrying when we went anywhere. But I persisted. I also pointed out news stories where people are victimized. One recent one was an armed robbery of a Subway near our old house in the middle of the afternoon. This was at a place where she had taken the kids during the summer while I was at work. She was able to picture how they could have been there when it happened. And she would have preferred to have the option of defending herself if it came to that. She has progressed to the point that she asks me to move the bedside safe to her side of the bed when I am going to be out of town. On Sunday I took the kids to a soccer game while she waited at home for a plumber. She asked me to go over the safe code again with her before I left. And she no longer complains about me carrying, unless I am OC'ing.

The OP mentioned that one of his wife's objections related to a belt holster (waist carry). I just wanted to point out that ankle carry is very effective when you are sitting down, and if you think of the times that you might need to use a gun, a lot of them start with you sitting in a restaurant, at home, or even in your car. Obviously, this does not work well if you are wearing shorts, and is less than ideal if you are walking, but I just wanted to point it out.