A pair of armed robbers in Chicago's Homan Square neighborhood got more than they bargained for when they targeted a man early Friday morning. 

According to Chicago police, the pair approached their intended victim, a 28-year-old man, as he stood on the sidewalk just after 5 a.m. When they demanded his belongings at gunpoint, they quickly realized that their target was willing and able to fight back.

Police said there was an exchange of gunfire between the attempted robbers and the victim, a concealed carry license holder. 

One of the offenders, a 42-year-old man, was shot in the head and pronounced dead on the scene. The second offender, a 20-year-old man, was shot in the neck and taken to a local hospital in critical condition. 

The victim was evaluated at St. Anthony Hospital and was listed in good condition.

According to CBS Chicago, one eyewitness identified the armed citizen as the driver of a garbage truck. If that is the case, he could soon be looking for a new job even though he acted in self-defense. Though the city of Chicago allows employees who have obtained a license to carry to "carry a concealed firearm in any area where firearms are not prohibited by federal, state, or local law," there are several exceptions to that policy:

It is a violation of this policy for an employee, while on or off duty, to carry, transfer, or store a firearm inside a building or that portion of a building owned or controlled by the City.

It is a violation of this policy for an employee, while on or off duty, to carry, transfer, or store a firearm inside a City-owned or leased vehicle.

It is violation of this policy for an employee, while on duty, to carry a firearm inside any private residence or residential building without express written consent from the owner.

If the armed citizen is employed by the Bureau of Sanitation (as opposed to a private trash collection company), then he was likely in violation of the city's edict not to carry a gun in a city-owned or leased vehicle. I personally don't think that is cause for termination, but given the anti-gun ideology of Mayor Brandon Johnson, I wouldn't be surprised if the city moves to terminate the armed citizen's employment. 

If the armed citizen in question had abided by the city's rules, he may very well have ended up dead. Chicago has a lot of "gun-free zones", and violent predators often take advantage of those locations. In fact, just a few hours before this particular defensive gun use, Chicago police were called out to the scene of a stabbing in another "sensitive place" off-limits to lawful carry. 

Two men are recovering after an assailant stabbed them during an argument on a CTA platform in the Loop, Chicago police said. It happened around 10:33 p.m. Thursday at the Clark-Lake station in the 100 block of West Lake.

CPD said the two victims were in a “verbal altercation” with a man who pulled out a sharp object and stabbed them. One victim, a man approximately 30 years old, suffered a chest injury while the other victim, 51, was cut on the face, according to a CPD media statement.

Not that it mattered to the alleged stabber, but weapons aren't allowed on Chicago Transit Authority property. The carry ban is the subject of an ongoing federal lawsuit, but for the moment CTA buses, trains, and stations are all still "gun-free zones"... at least in theory. 

These policies put lives at risk, and force lawful gun owners to choose between their personal safety and the risk of criminal charges, or in the case of the armed citizen who defended himself against two armed robbers, their job or their life. With enough public pressure the trash collector might be able to remain employed by the city, but that doesn't make the city's rules any less egregious...or any more constitutional.