When Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared we need to treat “gun violence” as a public health crisis earlier this week, he highlighted the rise in gun-involved deaths among youth and adolescents over the past few years. But Murthy’s prescription of more gun control laws isn’t going to stop juveniles from illegally getting their hands on a gun. They’re not buying firearms legally, so they’re not going to go through a background check. They’re too young to lawfully carry, so coming up with new “gun-free zones” won’t help. 

While Murthy called on Congress to pass new laws, he avoided any mention of what the consequences for violating those laws should be. That makes sense, I suppose, if you’re trying to reframe the gun control debate as a public health issue. But Murthy’s prescription completely ignores the fact that juvenile gun offenders are already violating a host of laws… including, in the case of several teens recently busted for breaking into a Tennessee gun shop, federal immigration law. 

Around 4:30 a.m. on June 16, a red Hyundai Elantra — which was stolen from Nashville — was reportedly used to smash through the heavily-fortified front of Sumner Gun & Supply on West Main Street in Gallatin.

Video shows the car repeatedly hitting the door and wall, getting deeper into the business each time. Finally, there was enough room for the four masked and hooded suspects to get into the store, grab expensive weaponry, and get away before officers arrived at the scene.

According to authorities, the teens used a second stolen vehicle to leave from the gun store. Then, they allegedly drove to another car, which was also stolen out of Nashville, and used that third vehicle to make their eventual escape.

Meanwhile, police said the stolen guns were valued at more than $10,000.

Police say the four suspects are 14 and 15-years-old, and are already members of a gang called Los Diablos. 

According to officials, the teens are here from Central American countries, like Honduras and El Salvador, for the express purpose of committing crimes.

“These suspects are going to be juveniles. They’re undocumented Hispanic males; are from Honduras and El Salvador; and they are undocumented here committing car thefts, burglarizing businesses for weapons. That’s their main goal,” explained GPD Capt. Lamar Ballard. “They are gang-affiliated. There’s no doubt about this. They have been committing crimes for at least a year that we know of.”

When the four suspects were taken into custody police found guns that had been stolen during the break-in earlier this month, as well as several stolen firearms that had been taken from another burgled gun store last June. Ballard says the teens weren’t just stealing the guns either. They were selling them “on the street” to the highest bidder. 

There’s not a single policy proposed by Murthy that would punish, much less prevent, teens from stealing a car and using it to smash into a gun store in order to steal what’s inside and sell their purloined inventory on the black market. His efforts are all aimed at restricting legal gun ownership, because most Democrats see legal gun owners as a bigger problem than, say, teenage illegal immigrants trafficking stolen weapons. 

I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t seem like a public health issue to me. It’s a public safety issue; one best addressed through vigorous enforcement of existing laws. That would include our immigration laws, though given Joe Biden’s unofficial open border policy we’re not likely to see that happen unless or until he’s replaced in the White House.