One of the culprits behind a massive heist of 100 new guns from a cross-country freight train has been convicted and will soon face sentencing. Unsurprisingly, those firearms were destined to end up on the streets of Chicago.
Fox News reports that 38-year-old Patrick Edwards—identified by prosecutors as a career burglar—and his seven accomplices boarded a train headed from New Hampshire to Washington state to steal the guns. The prosecution is requesting at least a 12-year sentence, and the judge has already sentenced one of the other defendants to 10 years in prison, citing how such crimes contribute to Chicago’s violent crime epidemic.
It’s important to take note of the scale and sophistication of the gang activities that keep illegal firearms pouring into Chicago—and remember it the next time cynical politicians try to point the finger at mom-and-pop gun stores in neighboring jurisdictions.
