Free Republic

Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last September, Assembly Bill 173 amended state firearms laws to allow California to turn over gun owners’ personal information to gun violence researchers. Finding there was no “emergency” to warrant restraining California from sharing millions of gun owners’ personal information with gun violence researchers, a federal judge Wednesday declined to block the state’s enactment of Assembly Bill 173.U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns heard from attorneys for Jane and John Does and Attorney General Rob Bonta regarding a constitutional challenge to Assembly Bill 173, a law which amended California firearms laws to authorize...

Jared Loughner, the young Tucson man accused of shooting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killing six people, is set to plead guilty Tuesday, an official familiar with the case said Saturday. A psychologist appointed by the court is expected to say at the hearing that he is competent to plead guilty, the official said. A previously scheduled status hearing has been changed to a change-of-plea hearing. In February, the psychologist said Mr. Loughner, a diagnosed schizophrenic, remained incompetent to stand trial. But she said at the time that the defendant was making progress toward competency, according to federal Judge Larry A....

A judge has denied a bid by defense lawyers to keep confidential information about Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner's behavior while in federal custody. District Court Judge Larry Burns, in a ruling made public on Thursday, said there is no reason to prohibit the U.S. Bureau of Prisons from releasing to law enforcement and federal prosecutors psychological records and other information about the 22-year-old college dropout. Loughner's lawyers said such a release would violate the federal government's own guidelines and Loughner's constitutional right to protection from self-incrimination and due process. "The Court finds that neither the psychotherapist-patient privilege nor the...