Some have called firearm ownership “the great equalizer”—putting the elderly and weak on the same footing with young, strong criminals—and Friday’s break-in at a San Jacinto, Calif., home makes that case very well.
When a man with an ax tried to break into the home of 92-year-old WWII veteran Joseph Milspaugh’s home, the senior citizen didn’t think twice about what to do. When the intruder smashed the front door with his ax and tried to enter the house, Milspaugh grabbed his handgun and fired one round at the criminal.
The suspect fled, leaving his ax behind. “I could have shot him straight in the head, right between the eyes, but I didn’t want to do that because I’d have been in trouble,” Milspaugh later told NBC Los Angeles.