Michigan has passed a lot of gun control laws lately. Among those are universal background checks and permit-to-purchase requirements. These, we’re told, are essential for keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. 

This only works, though, if there are no other avenues for people to obtain something.

If there are, then those with nefarious intent will simply go around the requirements and get whatever they’re not supposed to have.

And if a kid can do it, adults shouldn’t have all that much of a problem either. This was driven home by an officer-involved shooting in Detroit.

A juvenile was hospitalized after being shot by police during an incident on Friday night.

Detroit police struck the individual twice after he appeared to pull a firearm out after ignoring commands to stop walking.

It happened in the area of Seven Mile and Forrer Street just after 11 p.m., according to the deputy chief.

After observing a group of young men walking down the street, they stopped to investigate a possible curfew violation, Jacqueline Pritchett said. All subjects except for one stopped walking.

Police say he was fidgeting with his pants when they thought they saw a firearm. The individual then pulled out a gun and officers opened fire.

The report says an AK-47 was recovered at the scene.

Of course, that raises all kinds of questions for me, such as how the hell he was walking around with an AK in his pants. Even if it was a pistol version of an AK, that’s not exactly a small gun known for concealability. I can see why he was fidgeting.

It would be even worse if he’d been shooting, though that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Now, let’s remember what the gun laws in Michigan are. For the record, there is no assault weapon ban on the books. Not yet, at least.

Still, there are laws in place that should stop minors from getting guns if they work as advertised. Unsurprisingly, though, they don’t.

That’s because this kid didn’t walk into a gun store and ask to see their finest AK pistols, fork over the money, and walk out with it. He couldn’t do so lawfully, and he knew it. So, he went via some other route. Either he stole the gun or he got it from someone else who likely stole it. There’s a slight chance of a straw purchase, but those aren’t what most bad guys do.

So while law-abiding citizens jump through ever-increasing hoops in order to get a gun while complying with the law–laws claimed to be necessary to reduce guns in criminal hands–criminals just keep getting guns easier and easier.

The laws aren’t roadblocks for them. In a lot of cases, they’re opportunities. Yet even if they’re not, they’re easily cleared obstacles that do nothing at all to them because they were never part of the lawful gun market in the first place. You’re not going to stop it.

Michigan has tried, and we see that a juvenile was able to get an AK-47 without any problem at all, something that shouldn’t be possible if gun control laws work as advertised.