Say, just as an example, that some kids such as these illegally got ahold of a couple of guns and decided to break into a house. What else would be there to stop them from doing whatever they wanted if the house were occupied - the police? That is in reference to members suggesting to remove guns from public hands and/or make it illegal to defend against intruders who aren't knowingly armed. If long guns are okay only for sporting use, what keeps criminals from sawing off and concealing those - the laws against doing so? Haha, sure. First off, domestic laws do not shut down supply in any sense; something which should be blaringly obvious on a site such as this.
Closer to the topic, the remaining kid could have very well lost his life and is instead facing 55 years in prison. Both consequences are extreme for a 16 year old to face for burglary. Life sucks sometimes, but my thoughts are more along the lines that neither of the teens considered that someone was home or potentially even armed and ready to kill a couple of kids (their subjective perspective). I never would've considered those outcomes at the same age, but I also didn't go breaking into homes.