It was a quiet Sunday afternoon for a homeowner in Fresno, California… at least until a stranger barged into their home.

According to police, the man was fleeing the scene of a domestic violence incident that took place in a moving car. Fresno police and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office were apparently aware that something had happened, because the sheriff’s helicopter was hovering overhead and following the car as it sped down the road.

At some point, the driver smashed into a parked car, exited his vehicle, and then ran to a nearby home to make his escape, only to find himself face-to-face with an armed homeowner.

Deputies saw the vehicle disabled in the middle of the roadway after it struck with a parked vehicle. Deputies saw the alleged suspect, described as a man in his 50s, fleeing into a nearby home. There, he began fighting with the home’s occupants.

One of the residents pulled out a gun and fired on the suspect at least once.

Leibee said the suspect was taken to a hospital with an injury not considered life-threatening.

After he was shot, authorities say he took off running and managed to enter a second home. A brief standoff ensued before the suspect was taken into custody, and he’s now expected to face several charges.

The armed homeowner, on the other hand, is not only in the clear but was uninjured during his encounter with the intruder.

That was also the outcome for another armed citizen who fought back over the weekend, though one of the violent intruders he encountered wasn’t so lucky. Philadelphia police say an employee of a pizza shop defended himself after two men walked into the restaurant in the city’s Frankford neighborhood and opened fire on Saturday evening.

Police say nothing was taken from the store and no other injuries were reported. They also recovered the suspects’ firearms at the scene.

There is no word yet on the identity of the suspect who was shot and killed.

One man at the scene told Action News he spoke with the store employee who fired at the suspects. The employee said the shooting was in self-defense.

“What I saw was a guy lying down on the ground. Blood. The owner’s son said he had to shoot him because the guy was shooting at him. Said he had to shoot back self-defense,” recalled Bill Hackett from Frankford.

Carrying a gun doesn’t immunize you from being the target of violent criminals, nor does it guarantee you’ll be able to defend yourself. In many cases, however, it does give you the ability to fight back and protect your life, and that was certainly the case for armed citizens in both Fresno and Philly this weekend.

Armed robberies have declined by about 12% in Philadelphia this year, but there have still been more than 2,200 incidents reported to police since January 1st. That’s an average of more than seven armed robberies each day in the City of Brotherly Love, and 2,200 reasons for responsible residents to exercise their right to carry as far as I’m concerned.

Saturday’s shooting was at least the second defensive gun use in the past two weeks in Philadelphia that resulted in an armed robber being shot by their intended victim, so clearly some residents have already taken that step. Incidents like Saturday night’s armed robbery should spur others to embrace their Second Amendment rights, which in turn just might lead some would-be robbers to think twice before targeting someone they presume to be an unarmed victim.