Machine guns are easily the most restricted firearms in the country. While you can get them in most places, the truth is that they’re expensive and kind of a pain to obtain lawfully. Many gun owners would love to own some, but they’re costly enough that buying one is akin to buying a new vehicle. In a lot of cases, a very nice new vehicle.

Despite all of those laws–laws many anti-gunners pointed to in order to “prove” gun control worked–there’s a problem.

It seems bad guys are getting machine guns a lot more often these days. In fact, a couple of guys in Indiana were just arrested with one.

Troopers with Indiana State Police took two men into custody early Monday morning after a pursuit on Interstate 94 near the Lake/Porter County line that ended with the seizure of almost $16,000 in cash and a machine gun.

Around 4:00 a.m. on Dec. 2, a trooper with the Lowell Post observed a white Audi traveling at 110 mph in the construction zone eastbound on I-94 at the 16-mile marker, near the county line, according to a release.

…

While attempting to take the two occupants of the vehicle into custody, the driver again ran back to the car and after a brief struggle, the trooper was able to place the driver in handcuffs. During a subsequent search of the vehicle, troopers located a fully automatic Glock 45 9mm with a switch and $15,980 in cash.

The driver, 19, from Rockford, Illinois, was transported to Porter County Jail on charges of possession of a machine gun, a Level 5 felony; resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, a Level 6 felony; resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor; and recklessly operating a vehicle in a work zone with workers present, also a Class A misdemeanor.

Now, the “fully automatic Glock 45” really wasn’t. It was a Glock 45 with a full-auto switch attached to it, allowing it to fire on full-auto.

However, such devices are illegal. While many want to force Glock to change their proven designs because of these devices–devices that Glock has literally nothing to do with–the truth is that it’s still a device that’s illegal to make, buy, or own.

And criminals don’t care.

If there’s a way to get a particular firearm, criminals will get one. 

And these devices aren’t the result of lawful gun owners being victimized or just being careless. These are often exported from China, where the government has a hand in most businesses and likely knows exactly what’s being sent here. They’re illegal, but these are small plastic devices that are going to be difficult for ICE or the ATF to find.

Yet the National Firearms Act keeps people like you and me from being able to easily access similar devices or full-auto firearms in general, meaning we’re at a disadvantage compared to the criminals running around on our streets. It means it’s harder for us to defend ourselves from the various threats we might face.

Gun laws don’t stop criminals. Like I said, they don’t care.

No, those laws only stop us.