Two black young men were assaulting an older white man in Chicago outside a McDonalds where one of its patrons was filming the whole thing. People from inside watched the struggle happen outside through the window and were more or less quiet until the white man pulled out a firearm, and that’s when people seemed to have the problem.

According to CWB Chicago, the incident occurred at Magnificient Mile where just two days prior, a violent mob forced police to intervene, resulting in 21 arrests.

Video shot from within the McDonalds showed two young black men attempted to assault an older white man. One of the young men attempted to wield mace against the older man, but quickly retreated as the other got into a grappling match with the older man. The fight resumes behind ads on McDonald’s windows, but suddenly the young man grappling with the older man retreated.

As the older man came into view, he could be seen holding a gun at the youth attacking him.

Up until that point, hardly anyone had murmured a peep about the man being assaulted. It was only when he drew his firearms that people began to panic. Screams could suddenly be heard from women within the McDonald’s with one screaming “NO!” as the man pushed forward with his pistol raised.

Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt as after the pistol was drawn, the incident deescalated. The young men seemingly moved off, no longer interested in assaulting the older man.

Two things we can take from this…

For one, a good guy with a gun absolutely does see to it that violence is stopped. According to CWB Chicago, the man is not affiliated with a police department and appears to just be an armed citizen. The two young men seem to have little problem doing violence to the older man until the weapon is drawn and suddenly there was peace.

The second, however, is that though the firearm stopped the fight, it would appear that this is where people decided the situation was disagreeable. This is a problem. If the man was aided against the two men then perhaps the gun wouldn’t have had to come out. Sadly, no one did. He was forced to rely on the firearm.

Society seems to have less of a problem watching someone get beaten up than watching the would-be victim defend himself with the best means possible.

The lesson here is that sometimes you don’t have anyone to rely on but yourself in the heat of the moment. Violence can come on suddenly and without warning. Arm yourself.