For all the rhetoric on gun control, anti-Second Amendment groups seem to forget that most criminals use stolen guns; either guns they stole themselves or ones they purchased from someone else. Regardless, these firearms were taken from lawful gun owners and then used by criminals for nefarious purposes, which is why it’s infuriating that they seem so focused on the lawful firearm trade.

However, in Champaign County, Illinois, the police seem to get the fundamentals.

After a year of record gun violence, local law enforcement is continuing to encourage gun ownership to be taken more seriously.

Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman said the guns involved with the shootings have been coming from all sorts of places.

FOX Illinois sat down with law enforcement agencies in the county to learn where the guns are coming from.

“So somebody doesn’t lock up there gun, and they leave it in their car or they leave it in their house and the result of a burglary. So then those firearms are stolen and used for illegal purposes,” said Heuerman.

Of course, as you can see, Heuerman still blames gun owners. Somehow leaving a gun at home is now a problem. This despite hearing all the time that carrying a gun makes everything worse.

Which is it?

Don’t answer; it’s rhetorical.

The problem here isn’t that gun owners are doing something, but that criminals are doing something, namely stealing guns.

Honestly, the people who universally derided the idea of victim-blaming have really embraced the concept when it comes to gun owners, haven’t they? I mean, we get our guns stolen, but really, it’s all our fault.

All that said, Heuerman at least acknowledges that the problem is with stolen firearms, not ones purchased lawfully from a gun store. If only others in his state would acknowledge that fact, maybe we could see about repealing some of the more offensive and idiotic regulations that do nothing to stop criminals. I’d say we start with the FOID requirement. Who’s with me?

Unfortunately, we all know that’s not going to happen. That’s because Illinois doesn’t care about your rights. All it cares about is appeasing Chicago voters who have been brainwashed into believing that gun control will somehow make their lives better, despite evidence to the contrary, especially since we’ve long known what the Champaign County police are now explicitly saying, that criminals use stolen guns.

And don’t think mandatory storage laws are going to make everything better. They come with plenty of their own problems.

Stolen guns are a problem. No one is going to argue that point, least of all me.

However, if you want to address the underlying issue, you need to work so people won’t steal guns nor seek out stolen guns for nefarious purposes. This isn’t rocket science.

Sure, it’s not that simple, but it’s a whole lot more productive than blaming honest, hard-working Americans for being the victim of a crime, which has been the status quo.