Elderly Jewish man in Russia uses weapon to defend himself, charged with crime

I found that these weapons are commonly used for defense interesting: "Mr. Vaysman then shot his assailant with a gas-powered pistol (a non-lethal weapon commonly used in Russia for self-defense)."

A 70-year old Jew is being charged with “hooliganism” after shooting an attacker in self-defense, according to a September 7, 2006 report in the national daily Moskovsky Komsomolets. Anatoly Vaysman, a journalist at the “Behind the Wheel” magazine, reportedly got out of his car near a Moscow store in January 2005 when he heard someone shouting at him “Stop, you kike!” He turned to see a middle aged man charging at him. The man allegedly gave him a hard shove to the chest and then reached into his pocket, possibly for a weapon. Mr. Vaysman then shot his assailant with a gas-powered pistol (a non-lethal weapon commonly used in Russia for self-defense). The alleged assailant was lightly wounded in the neck and filed a complaint against Mr. Vaysman with the local police.

Moscow prosecutors are aggressively pursuing the case, according to Mr. Vaysman's lawyer, who told Moskovsky Komsomolets that his client had been placed on a watch list three times, even though he had no intention of leaving the city before his trial. . . . .