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1/ Here’s a story on how illegal gun trafficking works in Chicago.
2/ Many of Chicago’s guns come from out of state. But how they get onto the streets rarely involves cartel-like scenarios you see in movies.
3/ Just read this letter written by a Chicago man convicted after illegally selling guns. (He mailed it to our reporter @mickeyd1971): 
4/ The availability of guns is blamed as a root cause of Chicago’s gun violence, with nearly 500 people killed and 2,800+ wounded this year.
5/ Under pressure to respond to the violence, officials have focused on making examples of people selling, buying or possessing illegal guns
6/ And to help find illegal gun dealers, authorities sometimes pressure dealers they’ve caught to become informants.
7/ One of them became the informant who helped gather evidence that led to the arrest of a man named John Thomas.
8/ Thomas has since been described as a “poster child” for illegal gun trafficking. He was desperate for money when he started selling guns.
9/ Over seven months, he helped arrange the sale of 77 illegal guns in and around Chicago—in parking lots, alleys and backyards.
10/ Thomas brokered deals involving his relatives and people he barely knew. The informant generally paid him him $100 per gun ...
11/ ... and the informant was paid by the government to set up and secretly record gun deals.
12/ In one of these videos, you see a deal as it happens:
13/ In 2014, Thomas was arrested, and agents tried to get him to become an informant.
14/ Thomas refused. And now he's going to prison.
15/ He says he’s never made any gun deals before meeting the informant. So, we have to ask ourselves...
16/ ...does putting John Thomas—and many like him—behind bars actually make a dent in solving Chicago's gun problem?
17/ Read the full story here: propub.li/2yT37iY
18/ We’ll be talking more about this story in our newsletter this week. Subscribe to that here: propub.li/2ybHyN7
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