After there was just been so darned much bad news to cover over the weekend, it might be nice to brighten up Monday with a more inspiring tale. This story comes to us from Florida, where a concealed carry permit holder found himself on the scene of a sudden, brutal crime. Rather than turning a blind eye, he decided to get the situation under control. (From our friends at Bearing Arms.)

A Florida concealed carrier witnessed a man stabbing another near a bus stop in Orange County Florida and lept from his car to take the attacker down. Concealed carrier Jeffery Hopkins pulled his pistol and forced the attacker, Thomas Thorpe to the ground, where he held him until police arrived.

When deputies arrived at the scene, a knife was on the ground next to the bench and they found another knife in the suspect’s pocket.

“As I was getting out, I noticed the guy had a knife in his hand so I went for my gun and took him down,” Hopkins said. “He looked at me very scared. Then realized I was serious and dropped the knife and laid down immediately.”

Turns out that it was a good thing somebody got this lunatic under control. His behavior in the courtroom later indicated that he had more than a few issues to deal with.

Thomas Thorpe, 51, appeared before a judge and refused to have a lawyer represent him.

“Do you understand what an attorney is and what they do?” asked the judge.

“Yes, they screwed us,” Thorpe responded.

Thorpe seemed in a hurry as the short hearing progressed, telling the judge he wanted to enter a plea without the assistance of the African-American attorney standing next to him.

“I said not guilty — I pleaded not guilty and I don’t want this negro standing next to me,” Thorpe told the judge. “I don’t want a negro standing next to me.”

As with most of these cases which turn up, there isn’t much more to say except for, Well Done, Mr. Hopkins. There’s hope for the nation not going entirely The Purge on a 365 basis yet. The video of the perp in question follows, just in case you had any doubts about the need for somebody to draw down on this guy.