This isn't about whether you should own a firearm — that's your choice. It's about whether you're ready for the responsibilities, lifestyle changes, and mindset that safe firearm ownership requires.
This assessment is for reflection, not recommendation. It doesn't replace professional guidance or legal advice.
2 minutes 7 questions Honest assessment
Question 1 of 714%
Question 1
What's your primary reason for considering firearm ownership?
Question 2
How much time are you willing to invest in training — not just before buying, but ongoing?
Question 3
Is your home environment stable and free from conflict or control?
This affects both safety planning and risk factors.
Question 4
Have you honestly considered how your current stress levels, mental health, and emotional state might affect firearm ownership?
This is about self-awareness, not judgment.
Question 5
Have you seriously considered what it would mean to use lethal force — including the legal, emotional, and psychological aftermath?
Question 6
What's your plan for secure storage — especially if children or others have access to your home?
Question 7
Where does a firearm fit in your overall approach to safety?
Your Assessment
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Key Factors in Your Assessment
Important
This assessment reflects your current readiness, not a permanent verdict. Readiness can be built through education, training, and honest self-reflection. If you're not ready today, that can change.
Retake Assessment
Your Safety Comes First
Your Safety Is the Priority
Wanting to protect yourself makes complete sense. You deserve to feel safe — and to be safe. You're thinking ahead, trying to protect something worth fighting for: yourself.
Here's what research tells us about firearms in relationships where you feel controlled, afraid, or unsafe.
The Hard Truth
When there's abuse or control in a relationship, bringing a firearm into that environment changes the risk equation — but often not in the way we hope.
The presence of a gun in a home where there's domestic violence increases the risk of homicide by 500%. This isn't about your capability or judgment. It's about how these situations can unfold — abusers often use weapons against their partners, or the presence of a firearm escalates already-dangerous moments.
This doesn't mean a firearm can't be part of your safety plan. It means the risks are real, and if you go this route, doing it with expert guidance and a solid safety plan matters even more.
Many women in controlling or abusive relationships don't immediately recognize it as abuse. If you find yourself:
Walking on eggshells to avoid setting them off
Being isolated from friends or family
Being monitored, controlled, or made to feel crazy
Afraid of how they'll react
...those are signs that something isn't right. You don't need to have it all figured out to reach out. The hotline is there for questions, not just crises.
What We Can Offer
The first five layers of The Fierana Method — awareness, intuition, verbal boundaries, physical skills, and non-lethal tools — build real capability that doesn't depend on a firearm. These skills can help you now, whatever you decide about your situation.
If and when you're in a safe, stable environment, firearms training can become part of your protection. We'll be here.
You are worth fighting for. You deserve safety, support, and the freedom to make decisions with real information — not pressure from anyone, including us.
