While anti-gunners like Shannon Watts are taking aim at country singer Jason Aldean (who just reached the top spot on iTunes thanks to her and the tribe of perpetually outraged) for singing in praise of pro-2A small towns, they’re ignoring the failure of their gun control agenda to stem violence in big cities like Washington, D.C., where kids as young as 11-years-old are being arrested on a regular basis for armed robberies.

On today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co we’re shining a spotlight on what the anti-gunners don’t want to talk about: the inability of gun control-friendly regimes like D.C. to get a handle on violent crime and the role that the judicial system is playing in creating repeat offenders, including juveniles like this kid.

In early June, D.C. prosecutors dismissed criminal charges against a notable offender: an 11-year-old who police alleged was responsible for an assault and two robberies the previous month, documents show.

But the youth, who agreed to stay out of Northwest D.C. and wear an ankle monitor if a probation officer determined it was necessary to resolve the charges, didn’t stay out of the court system for long. On Wednesday, he appeared virtually in court again — in connection with another robbery.

In less than two months an 11-year-old has been arrested for three robberies and an assault. What’s the juvenile justice system done in response? Well, they dismissed the first three charges outright, and now appear ready to offer the pre-teen a plea deal for his most recent arrest.

On June 16, 11 days after documents show the youth’s prior charges were dismissed, he was arrested on charges of armed robbery and carrying a pistol without a license. According to a police report, he and two others tried to steal a delivery driver’s moped that was parked outside a Chick-fil-A in Northwest D.C., then threatened to shoot the driver when he objected. A D.C. prosecutor said at Wednesday’s hearing that the office was “working on a possible plea” offer with the youth related to the new charges, which include robbery while armed, threats to injure a person and carrying a pistol without a license.

As messed up as that is, the story gets even worse. According to the Washington Post, during Wednesday’s hearing the child’s probation officer informed the judge that the 11-year-old’s mother says her son is abusing drugs and has been struggling to place him in school because of “behavorial issues”. Instead of arguing to keep him in custody or placing him in the care of the state, the probation officer instead requested that the pre-teen undergo drug testing, while the judge warned that if the situation doesn’t improve at some point in the future he’ll have to place the 11-year-old in a shelter.

Just how bad does it have to get before that option is taken here? This kid has been arrested at least twice since early June for serious violent crimes, and slapping an ankle monitor on him hasn’t kept him out of trouble. How many felony charges does this kid need to face before the state concludes that home and the streets aren’t a good place for him to be and that intensive supervision and rehabilitation is needed?

Sadly, this isn’t an aberration. WUSA-TV in D.C. recently spoke to residents around Catholic University, where crime has gotten so bad that the famously anti-gun institution is now arming police officers on campus (while still prohibiting concealed carry for everyone else).

“When will it end?” asked resident Michael Howard. “I guess they’re trying to take advantage of people who aren’t from here or they assume are not from here and they want to try to rob them.  I’m walking down the street right now and I hope I’ll make it home safe.”

“This has never happened in the history of this neighborhood,” added long-time resident and Northeast native Peter Semler. “We’re really proud of our neighborhood.  We’re really shocked.  We’re really angry that it’s so much out of control. We have roving juveniles with guns doing armed robberies here!”

In response, the University president wrote that D.C. Police have stepped up patrols and armed campus police are in full force – driving, cycling, and walking the campus grounds. The school installed key card entries at all university buildings and will increase lighting on campus in hopes to make students feel safe.

Gee, know what might help them “feel safe”? Being able to protect themselves like this D.C. resident and concealed carry licensee who defended himself against armed carjackers on Monday night.

It’s not only easier for an 11-year-old to illegally obtain a gun than it is for a 31-year-old to lawfully acquire a firearm and possess it on a D.C. city street, but there’ll be absolutely no consequences of note if that kid is arrested for using that gun to commit an armed robbery. I don’t know about you, but I find that far more disturbing than any song I’ve heard recently. The red-shirted moms, however, would rather demand action against a country singer than demand our nation’s capitol take incidents like this seriously; much less spend a second pondering the undeniable fact that the District’s restrictive gun laws are failing to prevent pre-teens from possessing and using pistols in the commission of violent robberies, carjackings, and assaults.