Armed Citizen® Today
On June 7, a woman was walking with her two dogs through a wilderness area to gather mushrooms near Skilak Lake, Alaska, when she heard a warning yelp and then painful screeching, followed by a loud roar. She charged into the dense vegetation, screaming for her dogs, and suddenly saw a black bear only about 5 feet away with blood dripping from its face.
The bear was coming toward her, so the woman drew her firearm—a Glock 43 (9 mm)—and fired. The bear dropped long enough for her to see that her dog was still alive but badly wounded, and then the bear got up, so she shot it again. Again, it went down, but again it got up. The woman fired a third time, and the bear fled.
The woman evacuated to the road with her dogs and attempted to call 911, but cellular coverage in the area is intermittent. She was able to flag down another vehicle to help render immediate first aid and to notify authorities of the bear attack, and then she drove her dog to the veterinarian as quickly as possible. Once the dog was with the vet, she focused on coordinating with Fish and Game authorities, who were able to find the blood trail but were ultimately unable to recover the bear.
The armed citizen, an “avid outdoorswoman,” noted how she and her husband had ensured she had practiced her firearm-draw techniques and marksmanship skills, even using a laser trainer to practice during the winter when going to the range was more difficult. “The day before [the bear attack],” she said, “I had made sure that the [belt] system was tight as could be so there was no fumbling if I had to use it.”
The dog, named Chaos, received treatment for several deep bite wounds and a broken tail but was expected to fully recover. (alaskasnewssource.com; Anchorage, Alaska; 6/12/26)
From the Armed Citizen® Archives – March 9, 1987
A Bridgeport, Conn., resident went to help two men who said their car had broken down near his home. But when his wife saw the pair strike her husband with a hammer, she came out of the house firing a .38-cal. revolver. She struck one of the assailants, and two suspects were arrested at a local hospital where the injured man sought medical treatment. (The Evening Post; Bridgeport, Conn.)
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