It is a mistake seldom made by hardened criminals.
Criminals are normally connoisseurs of power's subtleties.
They understand, as law-abiding people sometimes do not, that laws are merely wishes on paper unless there is sufficient power to enforce them. No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session. Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. Those who claim gun ownership is a privilege, not a right, are claiming the right to abolish the privilege.