VA: Accomplice pleads guilty: "Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Elliott Casey told the court that Rawlings, his brother Christopher Rawlings and brothers Travis Scott and Levert Scott went to the apartment of Stacey Lamont Berry with the intent of robbing Berry of money and marijuana. Rawlings stayed outside while the other three entered the apartment to rob Berry, Casey told the court. Berry opened fire with a handgun, killing Travis Scott, seriously wounding Levert Scott and wounding Christopher Rawlings. Maricus Rawlings was not injured. Christopher Rawlings and Levert Scott also face attempted robbery charges. Second-degree murder charges against Berry were dropped and no other charges filed. "This is a difficult case because [Rawlings] has no criminal history," Casey told the court. "Unfortunately, because of a decision he and his compatriots made that day, a man is dead."


Draconian firearms legislation tabled in the 111th Congress: "H.R. 45: This bill would require a license for handguns and semiautomatics, including those currently possessed. The applicant must be thumbprinted and sign a certification that, effectively, the firearm will not be kept in a place where it would be available for the defense of the gun owner's family. The applicant must also make available ALL of his psychiatric records, pass an exam, and pay a fee of up to $25. The license may be renewed after five years and may be revoked. Private sales would be outlawed, and reports to the attorney general of all transactions would be required, even when, as the bill allows, the AG determines that a state licensing system is sufficiently draconian to substitute for the federal license. With virtually no exceptions, ALL firearms transactions (involving semiautos, handguns, long guns, etc.) would be subject to a Brady check. In addition, the bill would make it unlawful in nearly all cases to keep any loaded firearm for self-defense. A variety of "crimes by omission" (such as failure to report certain things) would be created. Criminal penalties of up to ten years and almost unlimited regulatory and inspection authority would be established.


IL: State bureaucracy causing problems for gun owners: "Illinois gun owners could fall prey to a state bureaucracy that fails to process firearm owner's identification cards promptly. The state's tardiness leaves some otherwise law-abiding firearm owners vulnerable to criminal charges because FOID cards often expire while the state police are still processing renewals. . The Illinois State Police agency is required by law to process FOID applications within 30 days. But the process is taking up to 60 business days . `Gun owners can't go shooting, can't go hunting, can't buy ammo, and can't legally own a gun. They're caught in a problem with the state police not complying with their own law,' said Richard Pearson of Chatsworth, executive director of [ISRA]."


PA: Court rules guns allowed in parks: "The Lower Salford situation revolved around resident Derek Price, of Meetinghouse Road, who brought to the attention of the supervisors and the park board that the township's regulation of prohibiting guns in its parks not only conflicts with state law, but also abridges the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees the right of citizens to bear arms. "There are stipulations in the state Constitution that permit that, and we are not in a position to try and supercede and go over what the state tells us what the rights are," said Kent Krauss, Lower Salford Township Parks Board chairman. Krauss said the parks board is an advisory board to the supervisors. His board met and discussed the issue and passed it on to the supervisors, he said.... The feeling is Lower Salford will allow guns to be visibly displayed on a person in township parks. Township policy is to question anyone bearing a gun in the park. The township does prohibit the discharge of firearms in township parks. "The solicitor reviewed it and we could remove the prohibition on legal carry," Lower Salford Township Chief Thomas Medwid said. "If one had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, then they could have been carrying in parks all along." He said on a constitutional basis, a local ordinance cannot supersede state law and you can't prohibit open carry."