In Minnesota, 74-year-old farmer Kenneth Englund is in trouble with the law for chasing down a suspected thief and holding him at bay with an unloaded shotgun...What stands out for me is that in the situation with the gun, actual violence was avoided.
Meanwhile, in the nation's capital, The Washington Post today tells how retired lawyer Gary Peterson helped police collar a fleeing robbery suspect by conking the guy on the head with a frying pan. The kid had burst into Peterson's kitchen.
Here's what I think explains the different attitudes conveyed by the authorities:
[W]e liked his choice of weapon...
You'll notice they don't like the choice enough to deploy with skillets instead of guns themselves.