On December 1st, a Maine food truck operator may have saved lives when he used his legally owned and carried sidearm to engage and stop a knife-wielding man who was threatening to stab passersby and motorists. That's a good thing, and one that the legacy media routinely overlooks -- or flat-out pretends doesn't happen.

A Maine food truck owner said he shot and injured a man in self-defense after the man wielded a knife at motorists and threatened to kill people ahead of a holiday parade in the New England town. 

"You always anticipate dealing with danger in a certain way, but you never know how you will react or how it would play out until you actually live it. It all happened so fast but in slow motion at the same time," Addy's food truck owner David Poto told Fox News Digital of the incident that unfolded on Dec. 1. 

Poto and his family were setting up their food truck business in Sanford in the late afternoon on Dec. 1, ahead of the town’s Christmas tree lighting event and "Holly Daze" parade, when Poto spotted the man. 

Poto said he witnessed the unidentified man wielding a knife at motorists and threatening to kill them. He initially confronted the man without showing him he was holding a concealed firearm behind his leg, Poto told the Portsmouth Herald. 

Mr. Poto showed great restraint, and even greater marksmanship:

Poto said that out of fear for his family’s safety and his own, he fired his gun and struck the man in the leg. 

"I was trying to avoid his arteries," Poto said. "I didn’t want to kill him."

Having been around firearms all my life, I'd normally caution against the old "shoot to wound" tactic employed here; if you're at such a pass that you must fire in self-defense, you should target center mass. But I would also caution against second-guessing. Mr. Poto showed not only restraint but an amazingly clear-headed approach to the encounter; he kept his cool, employed what force was necessary, and almost certainly saved the lives and well-being of others in the area. Good for him.

The legacy media hates incidents like this. Self-defense is one of the reasons (not the only one) that the Second Amendment exists and despite the maundering of a certain dementia-raddled public figure, guns in the hands of law-abiding private citizens ensure not only our domestic security but our political security as well. No less an intellect than Thomas Jefferson, in his "Commonplace Book," stated:

The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.

Poto's quick and decisive actions are precisely what Jefferson was writing about.

My colleague Jeff Charles has done impressive work reporting on the many instances of crimes prevented by law-abiding gun owners. Have a look at the links below for examples. See also Jeff's great and thoughtful comments on the recent shootings in his hometown of Austin, Texas.

• Intruder Shot to Death by Armed Homeowner After Breaking Into His House
• Armed Citizen in Colorado Sends Home Intruder on a Well-Deserved Trip to the Hospital
• Austin Home Intruder Should Have Thought Twice Before Breaking Into This Armed Citizen's House
• Two Burglars Broke Into Armed Citizen's Home. Only One Came Out Alive.