The city of Chicago has a long and storied history of blaming its problems with violent crime on Indiana. After all, the neighboring state has no interest in following Illinois’s lead on gun control policy, especially since they don’t seem to have any issues with such violent crime. At least, nowhere near as much as Chicago has, anyway.

See, Chicago officials claim that the only way guns make it into the city is because gun laws in Indiana are too lax, that people buy guns in Indiana and then smuggle them into Illinois as if the failure of all the other gun laws are Indiana’s fault as well.

The arrest of a suburban Chicago man is for something that’s going to be kind of hard to blame Indiana for.

A south suburban man is facing federal firearms charges after agents allegedly seized machine guns and more than 100 “switch” devices from his home capable of converting a standard pistol into a fully automatic weapon.

Leonard Johnson, 32, also known as “Scrap,” was charged in a criminal complaint with one count of illegal possession of a machine gun.

He was arrested Monday after agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives executed a search warrant at his home in Robbins, where they seized five firearms — including three machine guns — and 117 “switch” devices, the charges alleged.

The nine-page complaint alleged that after agents asked Johnson about the switches, he replied, “I’m not stupid. Yes, I got some attachments up there.”

Of course, since Johnson admitted to having a device that turns a pistol into a full-auto weapon, I have to dispute his claim that he’s not stupid. Seriously.

So, Chicago, how are you going to blame this one on Indiana?

No, seriously, I want to see this. It should be good for a laugh if nothing else. After all, such actions aren’t legal anywhere, so you can’t blame Indiana’s lax gun laws for this one. No, this resides squarely on your shoulders.

Then again, so does the rest of the violent crime in the city.

The truth of the matter is that if there weren’t a demand for such things, there simply wouldn’t be such things. That demand in Chicago is primarily driven by the criminal element that wants more and more firepower. They want to be able to overwhelm anyone, up to and including the police. They call for more and someone will meet that call.

The Law of Supply and Demand waits for no man, nor does the Law of Unintended Consequences.

Chicago, like many cities, has tripped over itself to treat criminals like the victims. They want to blame everyone else for their ills and are providing a roadmap so others can do the same. As a result, people feel justified in acting out in violent ways. After all, it’s not their fault, now is it?

Well, this is what happens. Johnson was allegedly selling devices that ramp up the criminals’ firepower well beyond what we law-abiding citizens can obtain. It puts us at a disadvantage, one anti-gunners want to make even more pronounced.

You can’t blame that on Indiana.