Last summer wasn’t exactly a peaceful season filled with swimming pools and backyard barbeques. It was filled with violence and burning cities and a surge in violent crime. To say that it was unpleasant is, to put it mildly.

However, the surge in violent crime didn’t subside when the riots eventually ended. That has continued throughout the winter and spring. Now, we’re in facing another summer and this one may not be any more pleasant.

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton warned of a potentially deadly summer ahead, as homicide rates surge once again across the country.

“We’re in for a very long, dangerous summer, that’s the reality,” Bratton told CNBC on Monday.

“Unlike the last crime epidemic that took decades to build up to the early ’90s, this one has occurred, literally, overnight, it’s like the virus, literally, out of nowhere, and so solutions are not immediately apparent,” he said.

That doesn’t fill me with joy, to say the least.

However, Bratton may not be the best judge of just what’s happening. After all, he later went on to say:

“The bad news is, come October, when the Supreme Court issues their ruling on gun licensing around the country, anybody in America will be able to carry a gun, anywhere, without a license,” Bratton said. “So talk about a second virus striking, the future does not look very promising at the moment.”

First, there’s no guarantee that the Court will make permitless carry the law of the land. I’d love to see it, but I’m not holding my breath just yet.

Second, why does Bratton think this would impact anyone but law-abiding citizens? Criminals carry guns without permits all the time. All a permitless carry system does is empower law-abiding citizens to also be able to carry a firearm. That may well stop a lot of this violent crime. After all, unarmed prey tends to turn off most predators.

However, much as he’s wrong about the SCOTUS decision, I actually do think we’re not likely to get any relief from the violent crime surge we’ve seen in recent months. Summer tends to be a season of much higher violent crime anyways as the heat makes tempers flare as it is. Mix in some violent tendencies, a subculture that demands violent retribution, and a police force pulling back due to the Defund the Police movement and you’ve got a recipe for nastiness.

Crime is likely to spike again this summer.

The only thing that might restrain it is the ammo shortage, though it’s not severe enough to really count on that having an appreciable impact on violent crime.

So, for you good folks out there who are concerned, I highly recommend you get your permits if you live in a state that requires such a thing and start carrying your guns when you venture out. The bad guys sure as hell are, and while I don’t care about them knocking themselves off left and right, they’re not confining their violence to the criminal underclass. Cover yourself and your loved ones. When cooler weather comes, maybe it’ll bring cooler heads.