Since the start of the year, Oakland police have confiscated more than 200 illegal guns during routine traffic stops and planned police arrests.

In Richmond, police seized more than 25 guns in vehicles during routine traffic stops in January alone.

Illegal guns have become an epidemic problem in the East Bay. It seems we've become numb to the constant gun violence and remain unfazed when the gunman turns out to be too young to possess a driver's license.

When three hooded men walked into the New Gethsemane Church of God in Christ on Valentine's Day and opened fire during a service, the public was shocked that the shooting occurred inside a church - a site that in most cultures is considered sanctuary and neutral ground.

One suspect, a 16-year-old boy, was taken into custody over the weekend. A 15-year-old boy arrested last week has been released without charges as the investigation continues. Unfortunately, the continuing gun violence in the Bay Area comes at a time when gun laws seem headed in the wrong direction.

A new federal law allowing guns to be carried for protection in most national parks took effect Monday - and in recent months, some Bay Area residents have begun availing themselves of a state law that allows them to carry unloaded sidearms.

"There is a different feel out there right now," said former state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, a strong gun-control advocate who, as a state and county official, has sponsored gun-control legislation. He is now a candidate to become Oakland's next mayor in the November election. "It's almost as if people have become accustomed or resigned themselves to the fact there will be a lot of guns on our streets."

When police do arrest people with illegal guns in their possession, rarely is the punishment serious.

"Most of the guys we catch with guns end up charged with misdemeanors and plead out for next to nothing," said Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus.

As a countermeasure, Magnus has proposed a plan to trace every weapon recovered on the street using DNA technology available through state and federal agencies. The county's crime lab does not possess the technology needed for such testing, he said.

The chief's plan calls for a 20 percent reduction in gun violence and homicides in Richmond this year. In addition to that strategy, Richmond will soon join Oakland in using restraining orders as "gang injunctions" to prohibit certain activities and bar known gang members from drug hotspots and areas where they are known to congregate.

In Oakland, a new police chief has vowed to make the city one of the state's safest in the next five years using a similar array of tools to accomplish the work.

Police Chief Anthony Batts said his officers will focus on tracing guns back to the point of origin and working with federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives authorities to identify and prosecute the people illegally transporting them from gun shows outside the state. Interstate transport of such weapons is a federal crime.

Until someone comes up with a way to remove the violence from people's hearts, it is incumbent on the elected leaders in a civilized society to legally remove the guns from the hands of those who would use them to harm others.