Personally I think carrying a blank equipped gun is stupid. Heres my thoughts on it: if youre putting yourself in a situation where you feel the need to carry, then its probably a bad situation. If you can avoid it, I would rather have the firepower and not need it than need it and not have it. As clichéd as that is, I feel its true. Maybe you will scare an attacker away, maybe you wont... but what happens when you meet that guy thats not afraid of a little sound? What happens when you meet that guy that can take a little salt thrown his way? Ive personally seen a guy take a a few shots (not center mass though) and keep coming. You may meet a tweaker hopped up on who knows what that will just keep coming.
Im not saying to pack a shotgun handgun mentioned above, but some sort of decently powerful weapon would be nice. A small frame 40, a .38 special, etc. Something you can store easily, get out quickly, something with a little punch, but soft enough that you woman can use it if youre not around or youre incapacitated.
For the price you would pay for a nice replica cap gun, you could own a real weapon that would really offer some protection when the need arose.