Gun store thefts don’t happen very often – but we still think additional penalties for such thefts are a good idea.

Three state senators are drafting legislation to increase penalties for those convicted of stealing firearms from a gun shop. It’s a bill that should, in our opinion, receive broad bipartisan support in the state Legislature.

The lawmakers mentioned the use of juveniles to steal from gun stores on behalf of adults because juveniles face lesser penalties in court, which they say happened recently in Bucks and Montgomery counties. The lawmakers think juveniles should be tried as adults in such cases.

They want to be able to try juveniles as adults in those circumstances while also expanding heightened penalties for those who steal controlled substances to include those who would steal guns from gun stores.

There should be a heavy debate about trying juveniles as adults – though prosecutors should have the ability to make that decision on a case-by-case basis. We would hope there is some leniency in the legislation for that circumstance when the legislation is drafted.

But when it comes to longer prison terms for adults convicted of stealing guns there should be little debate. Nor should there be much debate over additional penalties if those guns are used in other crimes before they’re recovered. It’s not as if poor people are breaking into gun stores to buy hunting rifles to feed their families.

Those who break into gun stores usually have a more nefarious purpose for the guns they’re stealing – and there should be a commensurate punishment in those cases.

We don’t see many cases locally like the one that we saw in December when two Jamestown, N.Y., men stole several rifles from the Tall Tales Gun Store in Pine Grove.

It would be nice to see even fewer through the deterrent effect of harsh punishment.