[Unspoken]

I just got into a fight with my girlfriend about keeping a handgun in the drawer with a loaded magazine halfway inserted. She knows I've had the gun, but only recently have I been keeping it in a place where I can get to it in case of an emergency.

I told her the gun is meant to protect us, to protect her against any random scumbags that may want to harm us. But she thinks living in the country excludes us from being victimized by robbers, meth heads, jihadists, communistic utopian mercenaries, jewel thieves, satanic sadomasochists, etc.

She thinks: I will kill somebody on accident, shoot myself on accident, or the gun will go off on its own sitting in the drawer even without a round chambered. I told her there are generally never accidents with guns, only people who are negligent and disregard safety measures. I tried to explain that a gun is no different than a power saw or lawnmower- it's only as dangerous as the person using it. I'm always extremely safety-oriented & cautious in life, especially with firearms, so she has no reason to doubt my stability.

She wants me to separate the mag/ammo from the gun. I told her a magazine halfway inserted into a weapon is no different than keeping a gun in the bedroom with the magazine downstairs in the laundry room.

Nonetheless, I now feel like a schmuck for trying to be open about my willingness to fight for what I love. And my reward is a nice night's sleep on the couch.

So have any of you ever had to deal with a similar situation? How do you formulate the words to convey that you're preparing for an emergency, and that you'll always keep safety as top priority? And what if they just refuse to accept the usefulness of being armed?