CHICAGO _ Thomas Caldwell once told a federal agent that selling guns was an addiction.
Even after being told to stop because he had no license, the Wisconsin man kept peddling firearms, posting more than 200 ads on a controversial website.
One of those guns, a Glock 26 9 mm handgun, ended up in the hands of a four-time felon who used it in February to kill Chicago police Cmdr. Paul Bauer in a shocking daylight shooting in the heart of downtown, according to recently filed federal documents.
The records give a rare look at how shadowy gun deals flourish between private owners and over the internet _ how easy and lucrative they are. And how lethal they can be.
"I'm not surprised that gun changed hands and came from out of state," said former Chicago police First Deputy Superintendent John Escalante, Bauer's childhood friend. "I think they (gun sellers) don't want to think about that. They are seeing the bottom line, which is money in their hands. If that gun winds up being used to shoot someone, they're thinking, 'Well, I didn't shoot the guy. I didn't pull the trigger.'"
The Chicago Tribune reported in March how the gun _ known as a "Baby Glock" for its compact size _ made its way from a gun shop near Madison, Wis., to Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago. Now the open and unregulated market that carried it into Chicago has come into sharper focus as federal charges have been filed against Caldwell and a second Wisconsin man, Ron Jones.
