Thomas Caldwell, Madison Man Who Sold Guns Illegally, Connected To Death Of Chicago Police Commander

The insanity of too many guns, easy access to them, and the immoral nature of those who are part of the gun culture came to light once again.  This time the story is local.

I always feel sorry for the ones without logic who quip that since Chicago has strict gun laws why does that large urban center have so much gun violence?  The answer in part is due to the likes of Thomas Caldwell who sells guns to anyone under the sun.  I wrote a blog post in 2017 about the issue of where Chicago guns originate from.  That article was then also posted in Urban Milwaukee as well as two Madison news operations.

Today buried in a news article in the Wisconsin State Journal is a prime example of what I was writing about.

An East Side Madison man whose 44 guns were seized as part of an investigation into illegal weapons sales pleaded guilty Thursday to selling firearms without a federal license.

Thomas Caldwell, 68, faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on Nov. 1 by U.S. District Judge James Peterson.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy O’Shea said Caldwell sold dozens of guns, some of which were found in the hands of criminals, between 2015 and 2018, after being given an official warning in December 2015 by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives not to sell firearms without a federal license.

One of the guns was used in the shooting death in February of a Chicago police commander. Three days after that shooting, ATF agents seized all of Caldwell’s remaining guns from his Martha Lane home.

I am one of those folks who supports our law enforcement.  For much of this summer I have a lawn sign showing support for the Madison Police Department.  I walk my talk about the men and women in blue and want them to be safe in our communities.   But the gun culture which runs red as blood and as wicked as Satan makes it very hard for officers to know what is to be faced each time they stop a car on the road or need to enter a residence for a call.

What every sane person–or even just ones with a moral compass–should find maddening is to know what is to happen to the pile of guns Caldwell has amassed.

Under an agreement with prosecutors, Caldwell will not seek the return of the weapons, which he can no longer have as a felon. Instead, the government agreed to send them to a federally licensed gun dealer, who will sell them and provide Caldwell, who lives on Social Security and disability payments, with the proceeds.

That outcome lacks being cogent, plausible, or intelligent.  It is instead just something that can not be pick up by any clean end.

Let us hope that for the next five years Caldwell will spend some quality time with the types who bought his guns and then used them in violent ways.    A seller and clients all sharing a bonding experience.

And so it goes.