Polk County Sheriff's Office While Joseph Irby was released the day after his domestic violence arrest, Courtney Irby spent five nights and six days behind bars before being granted bond.

An alleged victim of domestic violence in Florida was arrested and charged with armed burglary after she removed her estranged husband’s guns from his residence and brought them to a police department for safekeeping.

The case exemplifies the practical challenges of disarming domestic abusers, especially in a state like Florida where almost one-third of the population owns firearms.

On June 14, Courtney Irby was in court with her husband for a divorce hearing. According to an arrest affidavit, Joseph Irby followed his wife as she left the courthouse and began ramming his car into the back of her vehicle, ultimately driving her off the road. She called police “uncontrollably crying and advised that she was in fear for her life,” the affidavit reads. She also disclosed that she’d had a number of protective orders against her husband in the past.

Police arrested Joseph Irby and charged him with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Courtney Irby applied for a temporary injunction for protection.

The next morning, she testified at her husband’s hearing over the phone. A judge granted Joseph Irby pretrial release with the condition that he not own, possess or carry firearms. Hearing this, Courtney Irby went to her husband’s residence and located his two guns ― identified in court documents as an “assault rifle” and a handgun ― and took them to Lakeland Police Department.

According to court documents, she told the police officer on duty that her husband had been arrested the day before, and that she wanted to hand in his guns because she didn’t believe he would turn them in.

The police officer asked if she had taken her husband’s firearms without his permission. When she replied yes, he told her that she was confessing to a crime. Police arrested her and she was charged with armed burglary of a dwelling and grand theft of a firearm.

Lakeland Police Department did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.