Gun Charge Dropped Against Former Virginia Tech Student
A judge dismissed a gun charge Monday against a former Virginia Tech student in a Montgomery County case people around the country have been following.
Yunsong Zhao, a Chinese national, is now back in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and his future in America is uncertain.
He was accused of having an assault rifle on campus and faced a felony charge.
A judge didn’t allow cameras in the courtroom Monday but Zhao, now 20 years old and wearing a suit, put his hands in the air, smiled and said “finally” to his lawyer when the judge said he was dismissing the charge.
46 Oregonians Guns Seized in the Name of Gun Safety
At least 46 Oregonians have been ordered to surrender their guns under a new type of court order intended to stop suicides and mass shootings, law enforcement and court officials testified to state lawmakers Wednesday.
Ten of the cases affect people in Multnomah County, where authorities have seized more than 50 guns from people found to pose a danger to themselves or others, Mike Reese, the county sheriff, told a joint meeting of the Senate and House judiciary committees. Washington County follows with at least eight cases, then Josephine County, with at least seven, according to documents submitted to the committees.
In a June news story “Shots Not Fired,” The Oregonian/OregonLive reported on the first several dozen gun seizure orders issued under the new law. The newsroom’s analysis showed judges ordered guns seized mostly from people affected by substance abuse, anger or mental health problems. Research presented to lawmakers Wednesday indicates that trend has continued.
California Already had the Strictest Gun Control Laws in the Country. They Just Passed More.
There were loud and sustained calls for more gun control legislation after the mass shooting earlier this year at a high school in Parkland, Florida.
A lot of those efforts failed — but not in California.Gov. Jerry Brown just signed several gun control bills in a state the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence says already had the strongest gun laws in the nation.One law raises the age for buying a shotgun or rifle in California from 18 to 21. It’s similar to a law signed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott after the February 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland left 17 people dead.A California lawmaker said he had the Parkland massacre and other recent school shootings in mind when he introduced the legislation.
The Silhouettes of world war soldiers, due to be installed in green spaces throughout the country, were snubbed by Brockenhurst Council after they decided that the rifles the Tommies were holding could ‘upset families’.
Instead of the installations, they decided to cover the town’s lampposts in poppies as this would be seen as a less violent alternative.
However, their suggestion caused outrage among residents and they were forced to backtrack on their plans after they were slammed with a petition in favour of the silent soldiers. …
Councillor Harry Oram told the Daily Echo that he voted in favour of the soldiers but others were against the statues because they had rifles depicted in them.
Chicago LEO Defends Shooting of Laquan McDonald
The Chicago PD officer being tried for murder gave his testimony . . .
For two weeks, Jason Van Dyke sat silently in a courtroom here, watching as prosecutors played a video of him jumping out of his Chicago police cruiser and shooting Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, 16 times.
On Tuesday, Officer Van Dyke spoke. Before jurors who will decide whether he is guilty of first-degree murder, he testified that Laquan waved a knife and angled it toward him, stared at him menacingly and tried to get up from the ground after being shot. The video showed none of that.
The case — a rare murder prosecution of a Chicago police officer — may now rest on whether jurors believe the explanations Officer Van Dyke gave for the gaps between what he says happened and what the police video showed.
Midlothian Gun Bust Tied to UPS Thefts
Looks like they found those stolen guns UPS was supposed to be shipping . . .
The guns Midlothian police discovered in a U-Haul on Sunday are connected to a theft of a UPS facility in Memphis, Tennessee, according to the Daily Southtown. Around 400 firearms were stolen early Sunday from the facility making it one of the largest gun heists.
Midlothian police seized about 350 guns when they were called Sunday, Sept. 30, to a Walgreens parking lot in the 4800 W. 148th Street to investigate a suspected drug deal. The two men with the van fled the parking lot.
A police manhunt apprehended one of the suspects, but the other man is still at large. Police described the suspect as a black man, 18 to 20 years old, wearing black pants, a black shirt and a gray hooded sweatshirt.