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6/26/26 Hawaii law required gun-packers to get permission before entering a store or restaurant
while armed. But the Supreme Court just said "no." In a 6-3 decision, with the three liberal
Justices in the minority, the Court ruled that "hobbling" the right of persons to carry guns for
self-defense "as they go about their daily lives" violates the Second Amendment. But one of the
dissenters, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, saw the decision as "protecting guns", not the law.
Decision
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Virginia's assault weapons ban is on "hold." Set to take effect July 1, it was
enjoined by a state court judge, who thought it unlikely that it would survive litigation.
Disputing the Government's view that such guns "are not in common use," gun-rights groups insist
that they are in fact ubiquitous, "some of the most commonly used arms and magazines in the nation."
They have until year's end to make their case.
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With the World Cup around the corner, drones are being recognized as a
serious threat. Kansas City cops, who use drones, are wary of what hostile drones could do. So
FEMA just granted the city $11.4 million to implement countermeasures, including "sensors and
radars" that can identify and track potentially hostile flying objects before they strike. Like
grants (they total $250 million) have been awarded to other World Cup cities, including Los Angeles
and Dallas.
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6/25/26 Will it be easier for "kids" to get guns? California laws
that bar persons 18-20 from buying semi-automatic rifles, or any rifle without having a hunting
license, are before the Ninth Circuit. The plaintiffs, both gun dealers, argue that young members of
the militia exercised similar rights at the nation's founding. And in Florida, a State appeals court
struck down a state law that bars persons 18-20 from carrying concealed weapons. It's a matter of
personal safety, the plaintiffs argued, and Florida's A.G. announced there would be no appeal.
Related posts
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"Hunting Grounds." That's what the plaintiff's lawyer called immigration courts now
that ICE has started arresting undesired immigrants when they show up for scheduled hearings.
Calling ICE's move an "arbitrary and capricious" affront to the Administrative Procedures Act, a San
Francisco Federal District judge just issued a 71-page ruling that bans the practice - and not just
in the Bay area, but nationwide. Ruling
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Another massive COVID-19 scheme netted its perpetrators - the
owner of a North Carolina tax service and seven employees - nearly $14 million in unearned
sick and family leave tax credits. Each has now pled guilty. They face terms of five years for
conspiracy and three years for filing false returns.
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6/24/26 A lawsuit just filed
by DOJ in New York Federal court accuses the State of New York of regulating matters that fall
under exclusive Federal jurisdiction. A recently enacted State law bans Federal agents from wearing
face coverings and requires they visibly identify themselves. What's more, it also requires that all
local governments, including law enforcement agencies, terminate any cooperative agreements they
might have with ICE. According to the lawsuit, these provisions are plainly unconstitutional.
N.Y. State measure
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On June 16 gunfire
suddenly rained down on the highway bordering the Kansas City, Missouri stadium where a World
Cup game was underway. One person was killed and four were wounded. Police later cornered the
shooter at a residence. But the structure soon caught fire and 22-year-old Oscar Sanchez-Munoz got
away. He's also wanted for an earlier car shooting episode in Kansas. His mother describes him as an
(untreated) schizophrenic. Angel-Munoz was placed on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list. A reward of $25,000 is
being offered.
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6/23/26 "We poisoned our community to make cases." That's the sentiment
of a DEA agent who participated in the undercover investigation of traffickers who were bringing
massive quantities of lethal fentanyl into Albuquerque. One delivery involved 74,000 pills. For the
sake of making a really big case, DEA let them repeatedly transfer drugs to their unwitting
buyers. Presumably, all that fentanyl soon hit the streets. Months later came the "bust." But the
damage had already been done.
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Six years ago LAPD officer Toni McBride fired at a
man who was coming after her with a knife. Her first four shots brought Daniel Hernandez to the
ground. But she fired twice more, and he died. His relatives sued the city. Its claim, that the
"totality of circumstances from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene" absolved
McBride, was turned away by a Ninth Circuit panel. And the Supreme Court just concurred. The
survivors' civil suit against McBride and the city for excessive force can proceed.
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"Banned riders" and "missing persons" are the targets of a move by Kansas City
to equip its transit buses with facial recognition software. Objections by civil liberties groups
led the state to refuse to fund the project. So the city will use local and Federal funds to equip
up to thirty buses this year. Each day's riders will have their facial features compared against
"active alerts" in real-time, and this data will be archived when a bus returns to the depot.
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Three high-schoolers were killed and seven were wounded when two fellow
students, ages 14 and 15, opened fire with a 9mm. pistol and a .38 cal. revolver. And it wasn't in
the usual place, the U.S. This happened at San Jose National High School in the central Philippines.
Neither shooter has a criminal record, and all that's known about "motive" is that they told
authorities, after their arrests, that they had been bullied. They snuck in their guns because only
one of the school's multiple entrances is guarded.
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6/22/26 The Knicks' NBA triumph cost the life of an
L.A.-area pet. Responding to a 9-1-1 call about a "screaming" woman, two LAPD officers approached
her apartment. One announced their presence; his companion waited down the hallway. Marie Marseille
- she had been loudly celebrating her team's victory - answered the door. Next to her was a large,
furry mutt. Officers ordered that the dog stay in. But Jameson slipped by. And as he charged down
the hall towards the second cop, the officer opened fire, killing the supposedly friendly pooch. And
the community is outraged.
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A shooting had occurred. But deputies were on scene,
the suspect was gone, and Riverside County, CA Sheriff's dispatchers toned down the urgency of
the call. Prosecutors allege that Deputy Glynn Wilburn nonetheless kept his pedal floored. And as he
barreled through a red light doing 71 mph, he caused a collision that took a man's life and seriously
injured his future bride. That led to a lawsuit. And now, to felony manslaughter and reckless driving
charges against the deputy, as well.
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Twelve were wounded, at least two critically, in a Juneteenth shooting on Chicago's beset
South Side. The victims, ages 17 to 47, were part of a street crowd that was fired on by the
occupants of a passing SUV. So far, no one's been arrested. According to police, the city
suffered two-dozen shootings between Juneteenth (Friday) evening and Saturday morning, killing seven
and wounding 38. That's led President Trump to renew his call to bring in the troops. Related posts
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A Los Angeles County deputy suffered knife wounds after responding to a complaint
about a man who was openly "wielding several knives". He and another deputy shot the assailant
dead. Sheriff Robert Luna pointed to the encounter as an example of the "unpredictable and rapidly
evolving situations" that is officers regularly face. The deputy's injuries are deemed "noncritical"
and he's expected to recover.
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6/19/26
In an unanimous decision, the Supreme Court invalidated the provision of 18 USC 922(g)(3) that
prohibits gun possession by anyone "who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled
substance." That includes marijuana. But Justice J. Gorsuch, who authored the decision, emphasized
that its reach "is narrow." It "does not address" whether a prosecution under the challenged law
could be brought if there is "individualized proof that the defendant’s drug use renders him a
danger to himself or others." Nor does it affect other gun laws, such as "the Federal ban on gun
possession by felons."
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Earlier this year groups of Minnesotans massed at the Minneapolis
Federal building, throwing objects at ICE officers and staging "hard and soft blockades." In response,
DOJ just filed criminal charges against fifteen asserted "Antifa" activists for interfering with the
Feds. DOJ has also sued the City of Philadelphia for passing
a law that, among other things, prohibits Federal agents from wearing masks and using unmarked cars.
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6/18/26 Long Island's "Gilgo Beach" was where infamous New York man Rex Heuermann disposed
of the bodies of the eight women whom he strangled to death a decade-plus ago. His arrest, thanks in
part to DNA from a discarded pizza crust, came in 2023, and his guilty plea in exchange for eight
consecutive life terms was recently accepted. Heuermann refused to speak at his sentencing, or to
apologize to the families of his victims. So the judge berated the very large man for being "a small
man, if you’re a man at all." And for being, in fact, a "coward".
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Florida's driver licenses just got a unique mission. Those issued to persons whom the state has
designated "a habitual violent felony offender, a violent career criminal or a three-time violent
felony offender" will bear the statute's number: 775.261. That will ostensibly alert peace officers
to the nature of individuals with whom they may come into contact. Indeed, to anyone who might ask
for a driver license. Other crime-related "toughenings," including expanding the criteria for who is
designated a gang member, were also just signed into law.
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6/17/26 Distraught over their 19-year-old son's "homicidal ideations,"
an Ohio couple called in the cops. They found that Tycen Proper had amassed guns, ammo and survival
gear and was chatting online with a cadre of like-minded types, whom he was set to meet. That was on
June 10. So the cops took the lad to the hospital for mental-health reasons. On the next day the
youth told the officers that he and his mates intended to stage a massacre at the forthcoming UFC
event on the White House lawn. The Feds promptly charged Proper,
two residents of California, and one each of Nebraska and Missouri with conspiracy to commit murder.
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Nearly nine in ten mass shooters made their unseemly intentions known well ahead of time.
That's the conclusion of an in-depth study by the Rockefeller Institution of a sample of 171 "mass
public shootings" that took place between 1999 and 2024. Shooters usually spent months planning their
attacks and communicated key aspects of their intentions to multiple persons within their "social
circles." Warning signs were nearly always present well ahead of time. Related posts
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After reportedly assaulting three women, a naked man was sitting on the sidewalk
when then-Louisville cop Nathan A. Stotts came on the scene. Martin Nitzken Jr., 27, got up and
started moving towards the officer. And when he refused to stop, the ex-cop shot him dead. That
happened on May 30. Officer Stotts resigned last week, and he's just been indicted for manslaughter
and reckless homicide. Chief Paul Humphrey said that non-lethal means should have been used.
"Sometimes we have to make decisions to take people's lives, and this was not one of them."
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6/16/26 Senatobia, MS police claim that the officers fired because the alleged shoplifters' car
was headed right at them. Whether that's true will be sorted out. But their bullets cost the life of
a one-year old passenger and critically injured one of the vehicle's two other occupants, the child's
aunt and his mother. Relatives deny that the diapers they carried away from the Walmart had been
shoplifted.
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One convict was released from prison with an ankle monitor. But it
wasn't tracked "in real time." Eight years later, another simply cut his off. Both went on to kill.
Just passed 94-2, the Reagan Tokes & Patrick Heringer Act, an Ohio bill named after the victims,
would provide "continuous real-time GPS monitoring" of all violent convicts upon release. Zone
enforcement and curfew compliance are built-in. It's supposedly the most comprehensive such package -
ever.
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Three 3-D printers, a "Ghost Gunner" milling machine and a drill press outfitted
for gun-making graced his home-based shop. Harrisburg, PA man Yaroslav Vishnevski, 33, had long put
these tools to use making machineguns, silencers, short-barreled rifles, and other illegal toys. But
the Feds were eventually alerted to his doings, and a years-long investigation just led to the Air
Force reservist's conviction on five counts of illegally making and possessing just such toys.
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6/15/26 "The police were creating crime in order to seize money." That's how a public defender
described the practices of Hialeah police narcotics detectives, who gave real cocaine to drug suspects
to entice them to...buy more! And that just led a Miami-Dade judge to dismiss the case against Jason
Elysse. In 2020 the Boston man flew in, left with a sample, then returned to buy a kilogram. Naturally,
he got busted, and his cash was seized. Indeed, over time, Hialeah cops seized lots and lots of cash.
That helped lead to the downfall of former Hialeah police chief Sergio Velazquez, who was arrested last year for allegedly pocketing the proceeds of drug deals.
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In 2025 Springfield, OH enjoyed reductions in kidnappings and aggravated assaults. But
rapes and homicides were up. With the help of Ohio State University, police have turned to "risk terrain
modeling" to identify the city's geographic crime hot-spots. These will be addressed with more cops and
with tailor-made intervention and prevention programs. Drones, which will operate under strict guidelines,
will also be deployed. Related posts
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FBI now has a "Most Wanted Fraudster" list. And a member of its pioneering group of eight, Said Abdullahi Ereg, just turned
himself in. In cahoots with corrupt principals of nonprofit "Feeding Our Future," Ereg, who ran a grocery
store in Minneapolis, is alleged to have fraudulently obtained $4 million in Federal child nutrition
funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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When a
San Angelo, TX cop tried to pull him over, 45-year-old Odessa resident Victor Villarreal opened fire.
He abandoned his car and fled. Three days later, as police were looking for him on an attempted murder
charge, Villareal barricaded himself in a Midland veterinary building. He unleashed a barrage of gunfire,
killing one person and wounding nine others. Police SWAT officers found him dead an hour later. In 2009
Villareal was convicted of misdemeanor unlawful carry of a weapon in San Angelo. He was charged with like
crimes in 2003 and 2004 but neither seemingly led to a conviction. Related posts
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"Witness statements, social media and law enforcement photos" led to the arrest of the second person
who opened fire at Toledo's "Old West End" festival a week ago. Eljay Crisp-Carr, 20, is said to have
walked off when the other shooter opened fire, then turned around and "indiscriminately" unleashed his
fusillade. Meanwhile Ka Nye Taylor, the alleged first shooter, remains on the loose. Twelve persons were
wounded, but bystanders, medics and police helped them all survive.
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6/12/26 "Operation Speed Bump Enforcement" was brought on
by social media posts that promoted a major street takeover event in New Orleans. And the cops turned out
in force, making 14 traffic stops, engaging in one pursuit, issuing fifty-three traffic tickets and
arresting a half-dozen persons, including (natch) one of the event's promoters. According to NOPD head
Anne Kirkpatrick, New Orleans is indeed "a city of great tolerance." But it's "absolutely not a city of
lawlessness.”
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Colorado, Maine,
New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Washington enacted laws this year that strictly regulate home-
made guns, either banishing 3-D printed guns or otherwise assuring that all guns have serial numbers.
According to ATF, home-made guns are being far more frequently recovered. But gun-rights groups argue that
such restrictions are unconstitutional, and that it would be far more effective to go after and imprison
violent criminals.
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In the first trial under Texas' toughened retail theft laws, which make those over $2,500 a third-
degree felony, a jury convicted 28-year-old Winston Love of committing dozens of thefts from Target stores
after Sept. 1, 2025, the effective date of the enhancement. His loot included "more than 200 Lego sets,"
which he lifted along with "coffee makers, vacuum cleaners and PlayStation controllers." Love, who also
happened to be armed while committing these heists, drew forty-five years. He still faces another
felony theft case and numerous "under $2,500" (i.e., misdemeanor) charges.
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Five felony counts of involuntary manslaughter. That's what a 48-year-old
New York City bus driver faces after his speeding, passenger-laden bus set off a series of collisions in a
construction zone, killing five motorists and injuring 45 persons, including himself and many of his
passengers. It's not Jing S. Dong's first tangle with traffic laws. Last year he was found guilty of
speeding in Virginia and of failing to obey an officer's directions in New Jersey. This March he also pled
guilty to driving a coach 72 mph in a 50 mph zone in Maryland.
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6/11/26 Does Philadelphia P.D. "use a vague 'good cause' standard to
cancel permits to carry legal firearms"? That's what DOJ wants to know. Its recent letter to the Mayor
announced that it's opened an investigation into the city's use of allegedly subjective standards that
can impinge on the Second-Amendment rights of legitimate gun owners to "keep and bear legal firearms,
including the right to legally carry firearms where allowed." Letter
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He had no known criminal record or mental health issues. Yet the
25-year-old man opened fire with a rifle in his family's Livonia, MI home, killing his 58-year-old father,
53-year-oled mother, 22-year-old brother, and his brother's 21-year-old girlfriend. The as-yet unnamed
gunman then walked outside, threw up his hands, and surrendered to police. As for a motive, the killer
was known to have a "contentious" relationship with his parents. He had also "abruptly shaved his head
and beard within the last year." And for now, that's it.
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Westchester County's (NY) highways feed into New York City. Accordingly, its
license-plate readers amassed over 1.6 billion plate scans since 2023. One motorist's plates got
captured "1,134 times"; another's, "more than 2,400 times." What's more, the scans were allegedly shared
with over fifty police agencies. Including ICE. Asserting that this "indiscriminate surveillance
system" violates the State constitution, civil-rights groups are suing.
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A wild and bullet-riddled 2018
police pursuit of a desperate man who had shot his grandma ended with LAPD officers opening fire in
an L.A. Trader Joe's. Their bullets missed Gene Atkins but fatally struck store manager Mely Corado.
Atkins was just convicted on "dozens of counts" relating to the incident. But the jury acquitted him of
murder. Both officers had been found to have acted appropriately; neither was charged or disciplined.
A lawsuit filed by Ms. Corado's survivors was settled in 2024 for $9.5 million.
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6/10/26 Family massacres continue to beset Los Angeles.
A 37-year-old man turned a gun on fellow celebrants at a birthday party for his children's grandma. He
shot and killed his twin ten-year-old boys, then shot at (but missed) his wife. He then committed suicide.
Two weeks earlier, a 30-year-old mother of three shot and killed her children, ages 2 and 6, and her
31-year-old husband. And yes, she also committed suicide.
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But will it be safe? A string of shootings over the weekend has celebrants worried as
Kansas City prepares to host participants and visitors from around the globe at the World Cup. Early
Saturday morning, June 6, nine persons were wounded when gunfire erupted at an "after-hours" club.
That evening, two men were shot and killed inside a local business. And one day later, yet another
shooting left a person wounded. So far, no arrests. And the games begin next week!
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Concerns that "excited delirium",
the once-ready explanation for the condition afflicting combative subjects, justified forceful prone
restraint by police led the medical community to disavow the term three years ago. Its place was taken,
at first, by "hyperactive delirium." And now it's "irrational delirium." According to a new paper,
vigorous resistance can be a sign of acute "physiological distress." That distress can, in turn, quickly
create a "severe metabolic acidosis". And if force is used that restricts breathing, a cardiac arrest
becomes likely.
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