We’re often told that the reason you and I should have to suffer from our rights being restricted is that if we have difficulty buying guns, criminals will have difficulty stealing them. To some, that makes perfect sense, though I fail to see how.

Especially since none of the hoops I have to jump through or would be forced to if new gun control measures are put in place would impact criminals.

Look at here and now.

If I want a new gun, I have to go to a gun store, fill out a Form 4473, and either present my concealed carry card or undergo a background check–the concealed carry card serves as a background check in and of itself, so it’s not a way around it.

Meanwhile, North Carolina thieves managed to skip all of that.

Thieves drove into a Piedmont Triad gun store and stole multiple guns overnight.

The manager of Foothills Firearms says that around 1 a.m. on Monday, someone drove into the store and stole ten handguns.

The manager thinks there were two individuals who actually grabbed the guns with a third driving. He says they were in and out in under a minute.

Clearly, they didn’t fill out the required paperwork for all those firearms. Tsk, tsk.

Of course, in all seriousness, we all know that’s never going to happen. Criminals steal guns because there’s a demand for guns from those who intend to use them for nefarious purposes. You know, bad guys wanting to do bad things.

Gun control isn’t going to stop people from doing this, either.

Instead, it simply creates barriers for law-abiding citizens to jump through, delaying their ability to exercise their constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. It treats the average American as if they are criminals while doing nothing to interfere with the actions of actual criminals.

We’ve seen time and time again that gun control doesn’t stop the bad guys. It doesn’t even seem to slow them down.

Places with strict gun control laws also have a problem with criminals getting guns. Not even permits to purchase are slowing them down. Why would it? They’re not buying the guns. At best, they’re getting someone else to buy them.

And I call this “at best” because at least the gun stores aren’t being broken into and having their inventory stolen with straw buys.

You’re not going to keep guns out of criminals’ hands. What you need to do is start trying to find ways to make it so there aren’t criminals looking to buy guns illicitly. Remove the demand and stuff like this stops. There’s no reason to break into a store and steal something that no one wants to buy.

Plus, it is likely easier to help people start walking the straight and narrow rather than trying to close the barn door on guns after all the horses are out.

Not that you’ll hear that from some politicians, which is ironic because the way you remove that demand is by doing the kind of stuff you’d expect those same politicians to support.