The suspect in the killing of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test-fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials.
The federal appeals court in Philadelphia handed down a 2-1 ruling today that New Jersey could not implement sports betting because the state’s new law conflicts with a federal statute that bans it in all but four states: Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon.
A Republican effort to ease controls on purchases of rifles and shotguns from out of state might please hunters, but at least one Democrat sees it as an act of subservience to the National Rifle Association.
Inmates who committed serious crimes when they were minors but were prosecuted as adults will have a new opportunity to get out of prison under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday night.
Responding to federal concerns, the Washington State Liquor Control Board says it will change its rules on where marijuana retail stores can be located. The change aligns Washington state rules with federal law. Officials say that makes retail store owners less vulnerable to prosecution.
Some 1,500 homes have been destroyed and about 17,500 have been damaged, according to an initial estimate released by the Colorado Office of Emergency Management.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that state prosecutors must follow a ruling from a federal appeals court last year that ended Illinois' status as the last state without a concealed carry law.
Now those on both sides in the debate are raising money, developing new strategies and turning their focus to potential battles in at least half a dozen states.
Unless Congress amends the law, marijuana businesses must be cash-only, creating a potentially dangerous situation in which they must keep thousands of dollars in cash on hand.
The Commonwealth Court today granted the state's request to force Montgomery County Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The Legislature in 1996 explicitly banned same-sex marriage and refused to recognize such unions performed in other states.
Oregon’s House leadership is talking about referring its own marijuana legalization measure to voters rather than waiting on someone else to write a ballot measure for 2014.
People with limited English skills will have an easier time in Michigan's courts after the Michigan Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday setting down a uniform rule for the availability of interpreters.
Ohio’s law enforcement database and its facial recognition software are open to more than just law enforcement, a concern of members of the advisory group reviewing the security of the systems.
An epic national debate over gun rights in Colorado on Tuesday saw two Democratic state senators ousted for their support for stricter laws, a "ready, aim, fired" message intended to stop other politicians for pushing for firearms restrictions.
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