Time and time again, we’re told that gun licensing makes it harder for bad people to get guns. If they need a license to buy a gun, then that adds another roadblock and that criminals simply won’t be able to get a firearm.

However, a case out of Illinois–a state that requires a license to buy a gun–illustrates just how stupid this claim actually is. Not only is Chicago a hotbed of violence and carnage despite the law, but plenty of people are able to get guns outside of the Windy City without a FOID as well. Including one man accused of murder.

Kane County prosecutors allege that the Waterman man, who is amid an Attempted Murder case, and was arrested on new gun charges, last week, was within close proximity to the victim’s home in Elburn when he was found with a weapon.

As of Tuesday, 33 year-old Frank Ryan of N. Cedar St. in Waterman, remains held in the Kane County Jail on $1 million bail. His next court date has now been set for May 7.

Ryan, who was out on bond at that time, is charged with felonies for Possession of a Firearm with a Revoked FOID Card, two counts of Aggravated Unlawful Use of Weapon, and a count of Violation of Bail Bond.

Those are in addition to his case from January where he faces counts of Attempted Murder, Criminal Damage to Property, Reckless Conduct and Battery.

Well, this suggests that the FOID isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on, now doesn’t it?

Couple stuff like this with the fact that a mass shooter with a felony record was able to get a gun with a FOID, and the whole system just doesn’t seem to live up to the hype.

The truth is, bad people are going to do bad things. The only thing that will stop them, really stop them, is fear. They either need to fear the repercussions of their actions or they need to fear their potential targets. If we’ve seen nothing else over the years, we’ve seen that they don’t fear the system all that much.

That means they need to fear the population at large. That means freer access to guns for law-abiding citizens. The FOID isn’t helping with that. It’s making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to own a firearm.

It’s clear that Ryan, despite not having his FOID, was somehow allegedly able to get a gun. That tells you that the system doesn’t stop someone like him from getting a gun in the first place, despite an attempted murder charge hanging over their head. That means the system simply doesn’t work as advertised.

Maybe the problem isn’t that you should be trying to keep guns out of their hands. Maybe you should be trying to put more guns into the good guys’ hands. After all, good guys outnumber the criminals by orders of magnitude, right? Use that and stop treating everyone like they’re the criminals for a change.