I have a question if you all don't mind. I need sugestions on how to get my girlfriend a little more prepared. I have already got her into shooting and she enjoys it but refuses to give thought to carrying. She is very confident in taking care of herself but I know better. I'm in law enforcement and have had some training and have tried to teach her what I have learned. They don't train us much at work just some basic stuff but I think she needs to be better prepared. Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks.

By the way sorry if this has been asked repeatedly.

There are lots of different aspects to "preparedness".

Are you saying she is one of the people who just float through life thinking that 'everything is OK and will always be OK and nothing bad ever happens?'

Here on arfcom, folks tend to focus on 'preparedness' as in having one's guns ready at all times.

We tend to overlook the overview of personal safety:

Commonsense things like having money on hand.  Asking ourselves how wise is it to drive through a bad part of town after dark?

Keeping a good stock of necessities on hand.

Avoiding personal danger so that one doesn't "have" to confront it.  I was a social worker for 12 years and was in high crime areas daily.  Now that I am out of that line of work, I really see the wisdom of just avoiding a lot of people and places.

There in Georgia ya'll occassionally have tornados and ice storms.  Talk with her about commonsense preparations for things like that.  

The Katrina fiasco wasn't long ago or far away.  Talk with her about how things fell apart in the urban areas then.

And things almost always turn sour when a boyfriend "tries to teach" his girlfriend what he knows and thinks she should know.  Start open-ended conversations about preparedness without the goal of teaching her one thing or another.  Present a topic, let the conversation take whatever turns it takes.  You just be there as a source of knowledge when she is interested.

She listens to me and doesn't get angry but she thinks everything is always going to be ok. I'm in law enforcement so there is always going to be someone that doesn't like me just for that and want to hurt me or my family. This is one thing that really concerns me for the simple fact that she doesn't beleive that. As for as being aware of your surrondings and that sort of thing she really doesn't pay attention. For one example a couple of weeks ago we went to rent a movie, she pulls into the parking lot, down the side of the building with no windows and parks under a street light that is out. Why? Because she has trouble backing out of the parking spots. The only problem I had was the fact that she passed 10 empty spots on the side of the building before she parked. She doesn't live in a high crime town or anything but this still concerns me. Thanks for letting me rant and for your help.

Here's an idea:  Since you are in LE, you could arrange for her to go on some citizen ride-arounds with whoever patrols the local crackhouse area.

I would encourage her to be herself and teach her to be aware.  The more aware she is the more in control she will be and the more in control she is the more she will rely upon herself.

Patty

Being aware is really what I'm trying to help with. As for as the ride alongs I work about two hours away from her and don't want her to drive that far. I have only been in LE for a year and don't know that much myself but I try.