Guns.

Lives.

Monday afternoon was another normal day of cooking burgers and fries and hot dogs and Philly cheesesteaks for Tim and Debbie Patterson.

Then, about 2 p.m., they heard a scream.

Tim rushed out the back door of The Big Yellow mobile kitchen at the corner of Harrison and Fourth. He looked around the Goodwill parking lot full of cars, and heard another scream. Then, he heard a woman’s voice.

“Let go of me,” it shrieked.

Patterson charged around a car and stopped. A man had a woman’s head pulled back with one hand, and a knife to her throat with the other.

Patterson didn’t hesitate.

He drew his Kimber 1911 .45 with a six-shot clip.

“Drop it, or I’ll shoot you,” he shouted.

The assailant, wearing a hoodie that covered his face, glanced up. He immediately let go of the woman, dropped the knife, raised his arms in the air and fled.

Patterson, who called 911, checked on the victim and stood by the knife until police arrived.

Quote of the day:

“You can yell at somebody, but pointing a gun at his head does a lot better job,” Patterson said Wednesday as he recounted what happened the day before.

It’s estimated that guns stop over 2.5 million crimes a year. Many of them, like this one, without every firing a shot.

Now, if the anti-gun brigade had their way, the man would have had to confront the knife wielding coward without the benefit of a superior weapon, putting his life in danger. He could have been stabbed and the woman, well, who knows what his intentions were with her.

But, thanks to the wisdom of the Founders, the gun was drawn and the woman is saved.