When we talk about gun control laws, there’s a profound tendency to focus on it like it’s a monolithic thing, though we all know intellectually that it’s not. Instead, it’s a weird patchwork of state and federal laws, with local gun ordinances thrown in for flavor.
And in California, you have the most restrictive gun control scheme anywhere in the country. They have it all; universal background checks, gun registration, magazine capacity laws, mandatory storage measures, age restrictions on the purchase of long guns, the works.
So at least we know that there won’t be any 15-year-olds running around with guns in Los Angeles, right?
Right?
Right?
A 15-year-old boy is in critical condition after police shot him during a gun fight in Los Angeles on Thursday, authorities confirmed.
The incident took place at about 6:40 p.m. in the area of Hooper Avenue and 92nd Street. Officers on patrol spotted a male suspect spray painting a wall and stopped their vehicle to investigate.
When the officers stopped, a second suspect appeared and produced a handgun. Police said that suspect, a 15-year-old boy, then opened fire on the officers.
The officers then exited their vehicle and returned fire at the teen. He was struck, but managed to get inside an awaiting vehicle being driven by a man, along with the vandalizing suspect, and leave the scene.
Police eventually found the suspects and arrested three people, including the 15-year-old. They also recovered a .45-caliber handgun of some description and a shotgun shell casing. It seems the shotgun got dumped somewhere.
Only one of the three was identified as both the injured suspect and the third were minors. The one identified was a 20-year-old man.
First, why in the world is a 20-year-old running around with a couple of minors?
Second, none of them are old enough to buy a handgun anywhere in the country and they’re not old enough to buy anything lawfully in California. And yet, these three allegedly had a handgun, put it in the hands of a 15-year-old who then pointed it at police and got shot for his trouble. He’s lucky he wasn’t killed. Of course, he’s in critical condition in the hospital, so he may turn out to not be so lucky after all.
This was a vandalism charge they were looking at, too. This is hardly one of those situations where using lethal force against the police makes sense. You’re not looking at life in prison or death row for vandalism. While vandalism can be a felony under certain circumstances, it doesn’t look like that’s the case here.
So, this was a misdemeanor that escalated into an officer-involved shooting, in a state with the most restrictive gun control laws in the country and taking place in an anti-gun city where gun laws are going to be as enforced as anywhere else.
If gun control worked, how does this happen?
The answer is simple: Gun control doesn’t stop criminals. It merely creates roadblocks for the law-abiding and nothing else. This kid got a gun while regular folks are so restricted that many don’t even bother buying a firearm in the first place. While no one should be obligated to get a gun, deterring people from exercising a constitutionally protected right isn’t exactly a winning idea in my book.
Especially since that’s the only thing being accomplished here.
Read the full article here
