We are constantly told that gun control works, that it keeps guns out of the hands of people who aren’t supposed to have them. While that sometimes also means keeping guns out of the hands of those who have done nothing wrong, that’s a small price to pay…or so we’re told.

The reality is that the only thing gun control seems to do is keep firearms out of the hands of the law-abiding. Criminals seem to get them with frightening frequency.

In fact, so far this year, police in Long Beach, CA have confiscated a staggering number of firearms.

Long Beach police have recently dedicated more officers to getting guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, and the department says it’s paying off.

So far this year, the LBPD says it’s taken over 940 firearms from convicted felons, domestic abuse suspects, people with a history of severe mental illness and others who are barred from having guns.

That number has grown compared to 2018, LBPD spokeswoman Arantxa Chavarria said. At about this time last year, officers had seized around 770 guns, she said.

The LBPD says its gang detail has been especially proactive recently about getting guns off the street. Last year, the department formed a special “prohibited possessor” team designed to identify and locate people in Long Beach who have firearms even though they’re prohibited from possessing them.

Now, I understand that some of these guns were lawfully obtained and became unlawful after the fact.

However, we also know that a lot of these aren’t. After all, guns in the hands of gang members are almost never lawfully purchased. They’re all black market guns.

Yet if gun control worked, these officers would be very, very bored.

So what gives?

Well, the truth of the matter is that criminals aren’t interested in giving up their guns just because they’re criminals. They’re already breaking laws, so what’s a few weapons charges, anyway?

Further, look at that number. That’s something like three per day. All that in the land of gun control and sun.

Brilliant.

At the end of the day, though, it’s a drop in the bucket to the total number of firearms floating around out there in California. There are thousands upon thousands of firearms in the hands of bad guys throughout the state, much less in the Long Beach/Los Angeles metro area. Further, there will be more and more every day.

What was accomplished is the proverbial drop in the bucket.

Again, if gun control worked as advertised, we wouldn’t be seeing this. It wouldn’t be an issue. The problem is, it doesn’t. Criminals use other avenues to get firearms. In fact, I question how many of those 940 guns were replaced the very same day they were confiscated. I suspect a lot of those whose firearms were taken simply went out and got another gun.

Such is the way of the criminal.

Those who didn’t include those with a mistake made after buying guns lawfully and who just didn’t bother to get rid of their firearms for whatever reason. Those are the people who weren’t likely to hurt anyone in the first place.

So yeah, I’m impressed, but only that the police put on this display of futility for all the world to see.