(WSBT) Police say they've gotten some justice, after an officer was killed earlier this week.

Ronald Wedge of Bristol was arrested Friday for selling the gun used to kill Corporal Nick Polizzotto.

Wedge owns the Hole-In-The-Wall Gunworks in Bristol.

Federal officials say the 71-year-old licensed gun dealer did not follow the rules before selling the gun to Scott Barnaby at a gun show in South Bend last weekend.

Licensed gun dealers are required to make sure any person they sell a gun to be first approved through a federal background check.

“When you listen to the circumstances of what occurred here, this is a huge what if,” said Captain Phil Trent with the South Bend Police Department.

Federal authorities say Wedge sold Barnaby the gun last Saturday before doing a background check.

When he finally did the background check on Monday, it told Wedge to delay the sale.

Barnaby was approved the next day, but he had already shot and killed Corporal Nick Polizzotto.

“This shouldn't have happened, and this didn't have to happen, and I think if you study these circumstances, it seems like there's yet another reason why this truly didn't have to happen,” said Trent.

Last week, an employee at the Midwest Gun Exchange in Mishawaka saw Barnaby there.

“They said that they didn't feel comfortable with the way he was acting in the store and smelled some air of alcohol,” explained store owner Brad Foster.

He says they did not show Barnaby any guns.

“At any point that a sale person does not feel comfortable in any of our stores, we do not make the sale,” said Foster.

But, he says when there is a sale, there's always the background check first.

“So many people don't realize the rules and regulations in place for gun dealers today and their sales are to eliminate criminals with firearms,” he explained.

Foster added, “No question we do it, period. In this particular situation with Barnaby, it is the difference of life or death.”

Wedge is charged with making false statements about the sale of the gun. Federal authorities claim he lied on records saying when Barnaby received the gun.

He was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond, and will appear back in court in two weeks.

If found guilty, Wedge could spend up to 15 years behind bars and have to pay up to $750,000 in fines.