Illinois: Senate overrides vetoes on gun legislation: "The Illinois Senate on Tuesday overrode the governor's vetoes of a controversial gun bill .... SB 2161 was prompted by an incident in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, where a man was charged with violating a municipal handgun ban after he shot a burglar in his home. The bill would allow a court to clear a defendant of charges of violating such a ban if the gun was used in self-defense or in defense of another on the owner's property. ... The bill now heads to the House, where it must get at least 71 votes in order to become law in spite of the governor's objections. It got 90 votes in the House in May."



Virginia: Student returns from shooting course, triggers lockdown: "A student who carried a firearm into Orange County High School earlier this week, prompting a two-hour lockdown that delayed dismissal, was simply returning from a school shooting course, the sheriff's office said Friday. The student was wearing camouflage pants and a black T-shirt when a teacher saw him with the firearm Monday. The student came forward Wednesday and will not be punished, Sheriff C.G. Feldman said before detailing another problem the situation sparked."



Man says he shot hitchhiker to death: "A man told Richland County [SC] deputies he shot to death a hitchhiker Monday who tried to rob him at gunpoint, Sgt. Chris Cowan said. ... No charges have been filed against John Sox who said he picked up Olden on Beatty Road Monday night, Cowan said. Sox said Olden tried to rob him and told him to get in the rear cab of his pickup truck, Cowan said. Sox, 64, of Irmo, had a gun hidden in the back of the truck and said he shot Olden in self defense."