Teenagers under the age of 18 aren’t supposed to be able to obtain firearms on their own. Teenagers of any age can’t buy handguns. This is true regardless of where you live since this is federal law.

In theory, no one under 18 will have any firearm and no one under 21 will have a handgun.

However, the “in theory” part is on less firm ground than the flat earth “theory,” and a recent arrest in Tennessee highlights this fact.

Three teens are behind bars for their involvement in a crime spree involving six pistols, three of which were stolen, and four stolen vehicles.

Police say on Monday, Cheatham County authorities asked Metro police for help finding those responsible for a recent vehicle theft and other burglaries. The ensuing investigation led to three teenagers, ages 17, 16 and 15, as those responsible. The teens were also identified as suspects in auto burglaries in Nashville earlier this week, which resulted in four guns being stolen.

As police responded to auto burglaries in progress at Royal Arms Apartments on Richard Jones Road just after 1 a.m. Tuesday, the suspects intentionally crashed into a police officer’s patrol car as they fled.

On Tuesday afternoon, police confirmed the three teens were inside a stolen Kia SUV on South 6th Street. The Kia had been stolen from 21st Avenue South at around 5:15 a.m. January 29, as the owner left the SUV unlocked and running to warm up. As the Kia began driving, an MNPD helicopter followed it.

The Kia traveled into further into East Nashville and stopped near Riverside Drive and Cahal Avenue where the teens then abandoned the Kia and got into a Ford Fusion that was stolen in Ashland City on January 25.

The teens drove the Ford to the 3300 block of Creekwood Drive, abandoned it there and then got into a Nissan Maxima stolen on January 24 from a South Nashville apartment complex. The Nissan was unlocked and the keys were inside.

Honestly, it goes on. The kids were ages 17, 16, and 15.

None of them could legally purchase a firearm, yet there were six total firearms between them. Three were stolen. The other three were from who knows where, but most likely obtained through some other manner on the black market.

This, once again, despite all the laws on the books forbidding this sort of thing.

“But Tennessee has lax gun laws,” someone will chirp, to which I simply reply that, again, these three broke numerous laws as it was. Precisely what gun control laws could be put in place that would actually stop this from happening.

The answer, of course, is none. There are no laws you could pass that would actually stop kids from getting guns. Not when they’re clearly determined to obtain firearms in the first place.

I’m sure the police will be trying to look into how these kids got the guns in the first place, but I’d be surprised if much of anything actually comes of it. Then again, maybe authorities will prove me wrong.

Do you know what group will never prove me wrong, though? The gun control crowd and this story is proof that they won’t.