On Page 64, Justice Scalia lowers the boom: “In sum, we hold that the District’s ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its prohibition against rendering any lawful fire arm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense. Assuming that Heller is not disqualified from the exercise of Second Amendment rights, the District must permit him to register his handgun and must issue him a license to carry it in the home.”

The numbers strongly suggest gun owners need to take more steps to prevent gun thefts. The same numbers underscore the fallacy of believing that “universal background checks” will prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands, because there are no background checks involved in gun theft.

So, the gun theft argument is a double-edged sword.