Defensive Gun Use weekly roundup
Twelve DGU stories from approximately February 21 - March 1, 2026.
Tuscaloosa, AL
Tuscaloosa: A woman called 911 to tell them she had run away and locked herself in a nearby car to get away from an ex with a history of domestic violence with her, and reported that he was pounding on the car and trying to break windows to get to her. When police arrived, they found that she had shot him in what she claimed was self-defense. Police say the investigation is ongoing and that “no arrests have been made since issues of self-defense are present.”
Arizona
Gilbert: Police responded to a 911 call about a man breaking into the caller’s apartment, with the caller reporting that the invader assaulted someone in the home. The tenant opened fire, crucially wounding the invader, who was rushed to the hospital when police arrived. After describing the shooting in three short paragraphs, one of the articles then goes on for another 14 paragraphs with tips from the CEO of a security company called “Grab the Axe” on inexpensive modifications that renters can make to their apartments to try and protect themselves from home invaders without losing their security deposit—but in all those paragraphs, never once did Grab the Axe mention grabbing a gun for self-defense, even though that’s exactly how the tenant victim that was the original subject of the article protected himself.
Phoenix: Well, no one escaped unscathed, but when a 33-year-old entered an apartment through a broken window and exchanged gunfire with the 22-year-old resident inside that confronted him, the home invader died from his injuries. The victim and another person in the apartment only suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Florida
