When I was in the Navy, I had to go through something called the “petty officer indoctrination course.” It was an introductory leadership course for junior petty officers (E-4 to E-6). Through the years, that course has stuck with me, probably far more now than it did in the years right after I took it.

One of the lessons, though, is a bit of an old leadership standby in the military. “Never give an order you know won’t be followed.”

New Jersey’s Frank Pallone would do well to remember that one while he’s proposing laws.

New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone announced a new bill to ban the printing of 3-D guns.

The measure would also prohibit the sale, import, or marketing of incomplete firearm frames and certain gun part kits.

Now, let’s take a look at this for a moment.

While it can be argued that a ban on parts kits would hurt both criminals and law-abiding citizens equally, but perhaps stop criminals from circumventing legal checks designed to prevent them from acquiring firearms, only an idiot would think a ban on 3D-printed guns would do a damn thing except impact law-abiding citizens.

Then again, Pallone is a New Jersey Democrat, so…

Look, criminals are going to break the law. We all know that. If they’re not legally permitted to have a firearm, and they want one anyway, they’ll get one. Yes, that includes the possibility of 3D-printing one.

The purpose of gun laws is, in theory at least, to stop criminals from getting guns.

Yet without banning 3D-printing as a whole, you literally can’t stop criminals from using the technology. I’m not saying the system won’t work as designed, like with schemes designed to prevent purchases from gun stores, I’m saying the law will be effectively meaningless as a measure to stop or even reduce criminals obtaining guns through 3D-printing technology.

I think Pallone knows that, though. I think he knows it and just doesn’t care.

I’ve given up thinking that anti-gun politicians are just well-meaning people who are a bit clueless about reality. I think they know damn good and well this won’t stop criminals.

But they know it’ll stop law-abiding citizens from doing it. They know it’ll stop ordinary Americans from building guns that represent no threat to a free society.

It’s that they don’t want a free society, now do they? The fact that lawmakers in a neighboring state are so willing to gut the entire Constitution just to make it a little harder for law-abiding citizens to get guns should show us that.

People like Pallone are setting us up for a world where only the criminals have guns, including the criminals in power in the halls of Congress, and that’s something many of us just aren’t willing to tolerate.

By now, the files to 3D-print firearms are all over the internet. People who had no interest in the technology started downloading them the moment the Left started screaming about banning things. The genie is out of the bottle on that front, and I’m not going to delete any such files that may or may not be on my computer just because Rep. Frank Pallone has trouble sleeping at night over it.

In fact, I sleep better at night because they’re out there.