Violence in a (Supposedly Almost Gun-Free) Paradise

An headline from a recent L.A. Times article:

"Gang mayhem cripples big area"

The story is about a shootout the other week between the LAPD and a large gang, the Avenues, the aftermath of which caused a significant part of Northwest L.A. to be put under lockdown for an entire day. One of the gang members killed had been firing on police with an AK-47 rifle.

I'm mystified. The AK-47 and many other types of rifles and pistols are banned in California and can no longer be bought, sold or possessed there, except for law enforcement, of course, who are always exempt from such bans, as they are "special people". How is it, then, that a gang thug happens to be in possession of one? The answer, of course, is the same as it always is - Law-breaking criminals don't pay one bit of attention to gun laws, or any other laws for that matter, and will obtain whatever they want whenever they want it.

The only people harmed by California's various and onerous bans of certain weapons and ammunition are the hapless law-abiding peasant, who has to unfortunately live in the same neighborhoods as the likes of this Avenues gang, which "continues to be active despite several high-profile attempts by authorities to shut it down". Meaning, the police are helpless to do anything about them, and you're on your own, and probably disarmed to boot.