One of the common phrases you hear in the Second Amendment community is that when it comes to a firearm, “it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.” After all, most people will probably never have to draw down on another human being. They’ll never have to raise their adrenaline levels with the fear of being involved in a violent confrontation. But then again, though, they might.

For someone reading this, the odds of them being in a life-or-death confrontation is probably one-to-one chance.

So, it’s better to have it and not need it than the alternative.

In Nashville, Tennessee, an employee at a bar-b-que joint is fortunate that her carpool mate had a gun.

Metro Police say 29-year-old D’Ante Johnson drove his co-worker 30-year-old Briona Cowan to work Sunday morning. Police say as Johnson was pulling up to the rear entrance of the Bar-B-Que joint on Korean Veterans Boulevard and Almond Street, Cowan’s ex-boyfriend appeared. Police say Starolyn Macon Jr,. 26, parked his Jeep in front of Johnson’s car. Appeared agitated and belligerent, Macon jerked Cowan out of the car in onto the pavement.

Police say Johnson attempted to calm the chaos by telling Macon to “take it easy.” Police then say Macon displayed a pistol tucked into his waistband by lifting his shirt. Next, police say, Macon reached for the weapon. Johnson quickly reacted, police say, by pulling a gun out of his own holster and opened fire.

Macon attempted to evade authorities and drove to South Fifth and Sylvan Streets, near the Cayce Homes in East Nashville, but police caught up to him there. He did not receive any life-threatening wounds, but police did arrest him for felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor domestic assault. Macon’s gun was found stashed near a motel. No one else was hurt.

Good job, Mr. Johnson. Good job indeed.

Johnson isn’t facing any criminal charges, either, something that might be up for debate in non-Stand Your Ground states. However, Tennesse isn’t one of those.

“You do have the right to protect someone else, be in the defense of another,” said Davidson County Assistant District Attorney Pam Anderson. “One thing people have to be aware of with defense of another and self defense, you have to make sure that you’re not being reckless.”

Johnson clearly wasn’t.

Look, you may not want to start any trouble. You might go out of your way to not start any trouble. If that’s you, then good job. You’re a good person. However, there are a lot of people who don’t think like that. They want to start trouble because they know a lot of people will do anything they can to avoid it. They’re convinced they can terrify good people into doing nothing.

Mr. Johnson here illustrated that isn’t always the case, and in the process may have saved his co-worker’s life as well as his own. Once again, the good guy with a gun saves the day.

Of course, because no one was shot by Johnson, this likely won’t show up in any statistics related to defensive gun uses, save estimates. As a result, anti-gunners will pretend it didn’t happen.

Well, we know better.