A woman used a pistol to stop an ax-wielding home invader in Alaska last week.
According to the Alaska Department of Public Safety, a drunk 66-year-old man used an axe to force his way into the home of a 55-year-old woman, threatening to kill her. The female homeowner used her pistol to shoot the man in self-defense.
Authorities said the intruder was transported via ambulance to a local hospital where he “underwent surgery for non-life-threatening injuries.”
The Palmer District Attorney’s Office determined that no charges will be filed against the woman, but an investigation into the attempted burglary and assault against the suspect is still underway.
Also last week, a Domino’s delivery driver in Florida used a firearm he carries for self-defense to shoot several rounds at a suspect who attacked him, NBC 2 reported.
During a pizza delivery in Lee County, Florida, the driver returned to his vehicle and noticed his cell phone was missing. When the driver attempted to leave, 16-year old Hayden Celin allegedly punched him in the face and fired pepper spray from a water gun into the driver’s face.
The driver shot at the suspect as he drove away, and deputies later arrested the Celin near the Red Cedar apartment complex. Celin was charged with robbery with a weapon and burglary.
The two notable acts of self-defense come as President Joe Biden’s administration continues pushing for more gun control.
On Monday, Biden’s Department of Justice introduced model legislation states can use to pass extreme risk protective orders, commonly referred to as “Red Flag” laws, which allow law enforcement to seize a person’s firearms if a judge agrees that they pose a significant enough risk to themselves or others even if they’ve committed no crime.
The DOJ said it “will make it easier for states to craft ‘extreme risk protection orders’ authorizing courts to temporarily bar people in crisis from accessing firearms,” and that “by allowing family members or law enforcement to intervene and to petition for these orders before warning signs turn into tragedy, ‘extreme risk protection orders’ can save lives.”
Federal firearm background checks have continued to climb in 2021, nearing 16 million in the first fourth months alone and marking a 30 percent increase from the same period last year. The increase in background checks suggests the United States is on track for another record year of gun sales.
According to FBI statistics, 4,317,804 background checks were conducted in January, 3,442,777 in February, 4,691,738 in March, and 3,514,070 in April — totaling 15,966,389 in the first four months of 2021.
