Chicago Arrest Shows Reality Of Criminals Acquiring Guns

Chicago police officers line up outside the District 1 central headquarters at 17th and State streets, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, in Chicago, during a protest for 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was fatally shot and killed in October 2014. Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the killing. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

We all know that despite the laws on the books, criminals get their hands on guns. This isn’t a topic up for debate. It’s a cold, hard fact that is beyond dispute.

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Where we diverge from anti-gun jihadis is how to address the issue. For them, it invariably means more laws that only impact the law-abiding citizen, while we look for alternatives that don’t infringe on individual liberty. After all, we all know that criminals aren’t getting the guns legally in the first place, so what good will more laws do?

A recent arrest in Chicago sums up the reality perfectly.

A Northwest Side man faces more than two dozen felony charges after he surrendered to Chicago police Tuesday, the latest arrest in a drug and gun-running investigation into a secret Facebook group, authorities said.

Sergio Barrera, 23, of the 3700 block of North Octavia Avenue in Belmont Heights, turned himself in at the Jefferson Park District police station about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

Barrera was wanted on seven charges of armed violence with a category II weapon, a count of gun-running, eight counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, eight counts of unlawful sale of firearms, five counts of possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number and nine counts of delivery of a controlled substance, police said in a news release. All the charges are felonies.

Barrera was denied bail during a hearing Wednesday afternoon. Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke cited the seriousness of the charges and the “likelihood of conviction.”

Barrera’s attorney, Carlos Davalos, had asked that his client be released on electronic monitoring, noting he had surrendered to police and was not a flight risk.

Barrera’s arrest was part of “Operation Fishnet 4,” in which undercover officers gained access to an invitation-only Facebook group and made several purchases. The investigation led to the arrest of 50 people and warrants issued for 18 others, police said.

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Why, it’s almost like criminals don’t follow the law, isn’t it?

This Facebook group was selling drugs and guns. While guns are tightly controlled, the drugs were outright illegal. That means they were getting them from an illegal source, and since these people couldn’t buy guns legally, guess where they got those as well?

That’s right, an illegal source.

Time and time again, we keep seeing recurring themes when it comes to armed criminals. In particular, that they have no problem finding guns despite gun laws specifically designed to prevent them arming themselves.

Yet, invariably, some anti-gunner will call for still more gun laws. Despite all the laws against felons owning guns, they believe that just one more law will change everything. That the reason criminals remain armed is that lack of just one more law.

They forget that criminals, by definition, don’t obey the law. Why would one more law suddenly dissuade them from buying guns? Just what are these people thinking/smoking/drinking?

Then again, maybe it’s not about disarming criminals in the first place. Maybe it’s about disarming people because the idea of an armed citizenry makes the anti-gunners wet their pants.

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If so, they’d be better served coming out and being honest about it, because at least then their arguments would make more sense.

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