Gangs of thieves are swarming over the parking lots around the Armory and City Foundry in midtown St. Louis, both part of St. Louis’ aspiration to become a real city again. These thieves steal cars, of course, but they particularly like to steal firearms from poorly secured vehicles.

Lately the St. Louis Police caught some teenagers there armed with automatic weapons. A 16-year-old had a Glock 19 and a 15-year-old a Glock 29 that was equipped for automatic fire.

The upshot? The report reads: “Police initially ‘took the boys into custody,’ but a juvenile judge later ordered them to be ‘released to their parents’.” 

If teenagers are running around the city better armed than most policemen, it seems to me that functionally they have no parents.

The culture of much of St. Louis is utterly different from the American mainstream. Thus, “released to their parents” is laughably meaningless. I think I know what the judge meant by “parents,” but I doubt there are any people in the lives of these teenagers who are at all like what the judge has in mind.