My wife complains that the varmints show up at the bird feeder (10 yards away) and in the yard (up to 25 yards) when I am gone and she don’t have a gun to shoot them. She is not a hunter but can hit pretty well shooting two handed with her Ruger LCP pistol with its laser sight. Regular sights don’t work for her as she is right handed and left eyed. She wants something with a laser sight.There are other requirements. She wants a gun that can be left loaded. She just wants to slide the door open a little and shoot. She sees the problem when I load up my match air rifle which cannot be left cocked a long time, has no safety and cannot be un-cocked. I have to shoot the pellet out if the varmint leaves before I can get a shot off. She doesn’t want a big rifle. I think a Crossman Marauder PCP air pistol might be a good choice, with the rifle stock attached for much more accurate shooting. They can be left loaded. They have a safety. They are supposed to be accurate and quiet. Has anyone used one of these? Are they really that quiet? They shoot 700 fps in .22 caliber and they have the standard 3/8th inch grooves on the receiver on which a laser sight can be mounted.I aimed her laser sighted Ruger at a few birds in the back yard and found that the red light shinning on them did not scare them off. I was told that the green lasers are better for visibility. Does anyone have any experience with them in regard to hunting? Would green lasers scare off birds, rabbits and squirrels? In general, is it possible to get laser sights zeroed accurately enough for shooting small birds at 20 yards?

if you have the ability to recharge a PCP weapon, the possibilities are endless. if not, forget about a break barrel that can be left cocked….and yes, a green laser seems to be unnoticed by game. i have one on my .303 Wolverine and i can light up pigs at 30-50 yards at night without them seeming to notice.

I bought the Marauder a few days ago, put a scope on it to test accuracy with various pellets and shot a few pest birds with it. I ordered a Barska green laser for mounting in the scope rings and got it sighted in but the pest birds haven't much showed up for a real test, except for one which few off before I could shoot. I thought it might come back right away like they sometimes do so I left the green laser light on and shined it under the platform on the post on which the platform feeder sets. I did not want to take a chance on shining the green dot into the eyes of a cardinal who was feeding there. Then a white breasted nuthatch flew up under the platform and hung on it upside down. Nuthatches are in the yard a lot but I've never seen one hanging on the bottom of the bird feeder platform before, so I guess this was to get a better look at that "bright green bug" on the post.

I think a varmint gun would leave too much evidence, you may have to be content with just using a fly swatter on her.

I was about to post: if you want a good air rifle for your wife, you may have to throw in a little boot...

Not a air rifle but the 9mm flobert loaded with shot is a great garden cartridge for what you have described

The Marauder with the Barska green laser has been in use for a few days now. I found that the battery that came with the laser was pretty weak and had to buy a new one. I got two squirrels with it and the wife got four squirrels while I was away deer hunting. I also got a few pest birds with it, but so far the wife has not shot at a bird with it. It works really well for my wife but I am also thinking about a rifle with a very lightly loaded .32 Short for the larger pests like raccoons (quiet with a lot of thump).