The right to keep and bear arms doesn’t just apply to firearms. The Supreme Court has held that “arms” are defined as any “weapon of offence” or “thing that a man wears for his defence, or takes into his hands,” that is “carr[ied]. . . for the purpose of ‘offensive or defensive action’.” 

Though the Court has not yet explicitly taken up the issue of whether knives are protected by the Second Amendment, a number of states have relaxed their restrictions on blades since the Heller decision. Just this week Vermont repealed its ban on switchblades, and repeal of Delaware’s ban may happen this year as well, with the House Judiciary Committee  unanimously approving a repeal bill last month. 

While acts of self-defense involving knives don’t appear to be as common as defensive gun uses, they do happen. In fact, police in Fort Worth, Texas say a woman used a knife to fend off her attacker at a 7-11 in the city earlier today. 

Officers responded to the 7-Eleven at 9100 Camp Bowie West Blvd. about 2:20 a.m. after someone called 911 to report a stabbing. They found a man with a wound to the neck, police said.

The man was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. Investigators believe the incident occurred during a domestic dispute, and the man may have been stabbed in self-defense.

Police have arrested Abdulkadir Abubakar on a charge of assault causing bodily injury to a family member, but there’s no indication that the woman who stabbed him is facing similar charges. 

This, by the way, isn’t the only unusual case of self-defense to take place at a gas station in recent days. Prosecutors in South Bend, Indiana announced today that they will not charging a juvenile who shot and killed a man at a gas station last month after determining he acted in self-defense. 

The shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. on May 21st at a gas station on the city’s east side. 

Investigators say 56-year-old Jerry Barnette and a juvenile male (age unknown) had an argument outside the business. The juvenile then walked away and entered the business, with Barnette following a short time later.

Barnette then reportedly re-engaged the juvenile, this time with a gun. That’s when police say the two started shooting at each other.

Police say Barnette died at the scene. The juvenile, who was found a short time later at a nearby home in Mishawaka, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The right to self-defense doesn’t kick in once we reach adulthood, which does raise the question about how old, exactly, we have to before exercising our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. 

For now, anyway, you have to be at least 18 to lawfully carry in Indiana, so I’m curious why St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter apparently decided that the juvenile shouldn’t be charged with illegally possessing a firearm. I say “apparently” because there’s always the possibility that the local media got it wrong, and while the teenager won’t be charged for pulling the trigger in self-defense he could still face gun possession charges. I’ve reached out to the prosecutor’s office for clarification, and will hopefully be able to update this story soon. 

If nothing else, these incidents are reminders that violence can happen anywhere, and it doesn’t always involve a stranger. We never know when our life might be put in danger, so we should be prepared to protect it at any given moment.