gun

Officials announced Thursday that Los Angeles County has automated the process of notifying law enforcement agencies when people who violate restraining orders fail to comply with judges’ orders to hand their guns over to authorities.

Previously, court clerks had to identify which of the county’s 88 law enforcement agencies to notify about a firearm relinquishment by looking up addresses for the accused, which could take multiple days, Presiding Judge Sergio C. Tapia II of the L.A. County Superior Court said during a news conference.

Now, “notices are sent within minutes” to the appropriate agencies, Tapia said.

“This new system represents a step forward in ensuring timely, consistent and efficient communication between the court and law enforcement,” he said, “helping to remove firearms from individuals who are legally prohibited from possessing them.”

According to a news release, the court launched the platform, which the Judicial Council of California funded with a $4.12 million grant in conjunction with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and district attorney’s office, and the L.A. Police Department and city attorney’s office.

The court also rolled out a new portal for law enforcement that “streamlines interagency communications by providing justice partners with a centralized list of relevant cases for review” and allows agencies “to view all firearm relinquishment restraining order violations within their jurisdiction,” according to the release.

The new digital approach “represents a major enhancement in public safety,” Luna said.

“Each of those firearms,” he said, “represents a potential tragedy prevented or a domestic violence situation that did not escalate, a life that was not lost to gun violence.”

Abby Zwerner, 28, was shot in 2023 as she sat in a first-grade classroom and sustained life-threatening injuries.

A jury in the state of Virginia in the United States has awarded $10m to a former teacher who was shot by a six-year-old student.

The jury on Thursday sided with former teacher Abby Zwerner’s claim, made in a civil lawsuit, that an ex-administrator at the school had ignored repeated warnings that the six-year-old child had a gun in class.

Zwerner, 28, was shot in January 2023 as she sat at a reading table in her first-grade classroom and spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and still does not have the full use of her left hand.

The bullet fired by the six-year-old narrowly missed her heart and remains in her chest.

Zwerner, who did not address reporters outside the court after the decision was announced, had sought $40m in damages against Ebony Parker, a former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary School in the city of Newport News, Virginia.

One of her lawyers, Diane Toscano, said the verdict sent a message that what happened at the school “was wrong and is not going to be tolerated, that safety has to be the first concern at school”.

Zwerner’s lawyers had claimed that Parker, the assistant principal at the time, had failed to act in the hours before the shooting after several school staff members told her that the student had a gun in his backpack.

“Who would think a six-year-old would bring a gun to school and shoot their teacher?” Toscano had asked the jury earlier.

“It’s Dr Parker’s job to believe that is possible. It’s her job to investigate it and get to the very bottom of it.”

Parker did not testify in the lawsuit.

The mother of the student who shot Zwerner was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of child neglect and firearms charges.

No charges were brought against the child, who told authorities he got his mother’s handgun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mother’s purse.

Newtown Action Alliance, an advocacy organisation that supports reforms aimed at addressing gun violence, said that the case points to the need for greater regulations over the storage of firearms in homes with children.

“Abby Zwerner was shot by her 6-year-old student using a gun from home,” the group said in a social media post, adding that “76 percent of school shooters get their guns from their homes or relatives”.

Abby Zwerner was shot by her 6-year-old student using a gun from home.

76% of school shooters get their guns from their homes or relatives.

Urge your Members of Congress to cosponsor Ethan’s Law.

Congressional Switchboard: (202) 224-3121#SafeStorageSavesLives #EndGunViolence pic.twitter.com/YZyuo0KxXj

— Newtown Action Alliance (@NewtownAction) November 6, 2025

Zwerner no longer works for the school district and has said she has no plans to teach again. She has since become a licensed cosmetologist.

While accidents involving young children accessing unsecured firearms in their homes are common in the US, school shootings perpetrated by those under 10 years old are rare.

A database compiled by US researcher David Riedman has registered about 15 such incidents since the 1970s.

The Football Association has charged Crystal Palace with misconduct after supporters held a banner depicting Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis holding a gun to midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White’s head.

The banner, unfurled during the 1-1 Premier League draw at Selhurst Park in August, read: “Mr Marinakis is not involved in blackmail, match-fixing, drug trafficking or corruption.”

Marinakis has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to such allegations.

The FA has charged Palace with failing to ensure that supporters did not behave in an improper, offensive, abusive or provocative way.

Tottenham say they are supporting Destiny Udogie after confirming the Italy defender was allegedly threatened with a gun by a football agent.

On Monday, BBC Sport reported an unnamed Premier League footballer was targeted in London on 6 September.

Another man is also alleged to have been blackmailed and threatened by the same individual during the incident in question. No injuries were reported.

The Metropolitan police, who are investigating, said a 31-year-old man was arrested on 8 September on suspicion of possession of firearms with intent, blackmail and driving without a licence. He has been bailed while enquiries continue.

In a statement on Tuesday, Spurs said: “We have been providing support for Destiny and his family since the incident and will continue to do so. Given this is a legal matter, we cannot comment any further.”

The 22-year-old Udogie joined Spurs from Udinese for £15m on a five-year deal in the summer of 2022, before immediately returning to the Serie A club on a season-long loan.

He returned to Tottenham for the start of the 2023-24 campaign and has made 76 appearances for the club.

The Italian has played 10 times this season, including Tuesday night’s 4-0 win over Copenhagen in the league phase of the Champions League.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A pair of court rulings declaring some of Florida’s gun restrictions unconstitutional are creating some confusion in the notoriously firearm-friendly state — and fueling activists’ calls for Republican legislators to take action to update state statutes so they abide by the new legal landscape.

Despite Florida’s history of being a gun-supporting climate, Florida’s GOP-dominated state Legislature took steps to restrict gun laws in the wake of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Since the day the measure was signed into law, gun rights advocates have been pushing to unravel it.

Now, activists say recent court rulings are fueling their push to expand gun rights in the state, emboldened by U.S. Supreme Court’s updated standards for evaluating gun laws based on the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.

“Leaving unconstitutional laws on the books creates nothing but confusion,” said Sean Caranna, executive director of the advocacy group Florida Carry.

Here’s what to know.

Judge finds age restriction on concealed carry unconstitutional

A ruling by a circuit court judge in Broward County, home to Fort Lauderdale, found that Florida’s prohibition against people under the age of 21 from carrying a concealed firearm is unconstitutional, at least as it relates to the case in question.

Last week, Judge Frank Ledee tossed out the conviction of 19-year-old Joel Walkes, who was charged with a third-degree felony for carrying a concealed handgun. Florida statutes currently allow people between the age of 18 and 20 to possess a firearm, if they legally receive it as a gift or an inheritance, but they are barred from purchasing guns or carrying them concealed.

Ledee found the state’s prohibition is incompatible with the Supreme Court’s historical test, and inconsistent with a recent appeals court ruling that found a state law banning the open carrying of firearms is unconstitutional. In his decision, the judge pointed to the Legislature’s role in codifying and clarifying the changes.

“Distilling these inconsistencies into a framework of firearm regulations compatible with the guarantee to bear arms pursuant to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is best left to the wisdom of legislative debate,” Ledee wrote.

Open carry ruling sparks questions

Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal issued its ruling last month in a case stemming from the July 4, 2022, arrest of a man who stood at a major intersection in downtown Pensacola carrying a visible, holstered pistol and a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

The decision legalizes open carry, though there are preexisting limitations against carrying in a threatening manner or in certain restricted spaces like government meetings, schools and bars. The ruling has prompted some Florida sheriffs to urge caution among gun owners and seek clarity from lawmakers.

Legalizing open carry has long been a major focus of gun rights activists in the state, who oppose the slate of restrictions that Florida lawmakers implemented in the wake of the Parkland school shooting, which killed 17 people and injured 17 others. Among the law’s provisions was raising the legal gun-buying age to 21.

Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, said the recent court decisions put more onus on lawmakers to enact state statutes that line up with recent judicial rulings.

“I would not be surprised if in the next session the Florida Legislature doesn’t just take care of this by amending the statute to say, ‘clean it up.’ And then that’ll end all these lawsuits and possible lawsuits,” Jarvis said of the age-related prohibition. “And that’s really now what should happen.”

Advocates push for expanding gun laws

In the years since the 2018 Parkland shooting, lawmakers’ efforts to lower the gun-buying age to 18 have advanced in the Florida House but ultimately failed in the state Senate.

Now some advocates say the recent court rulings should force the hand of legislators who have opposed expanding gun rights in the past.

“We’ve been telling the Legislature since 2010 that this was going to be a problem for them if they didn’t act. And they chose not to act,” Caranna said.

“I hope that given some of the recent decisions from the United States Supreme Court and the Florida courts, that they will finally see that the 2nd Amendment is not a second-class right,” he added.

Representatives for Florida’s House speaker and Senate president did not immediately respond to inquiries Wednesday.

Payne writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — The White House pressed U.S. Navy officials to launch 2,000-pound live bombs instead of dummy explosives during an elaborate military demonstration for the service’s 250th anniversary celebration that President Trump attended, two people familiar with planning for the event told the Associated Press.

One person familiar with the planning said White House officials insisted to Navy planners that Trump “needed to see explosions” instead of just a “big splash” during the Oct. 5 demonstration.

Original planning for what the Navy dubbed the Titans of the Sea Presidential Review called for military personnel to use dummies and not live bombs, a third person familiar with the Navy’s planning said.

That person, who like the others was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, would not comment on why the Navy decided to switch to live bombs.

The White House said no switch was made. Deputy press secretary Anna Kelly in a statement said: “Organizers always planned to use live munitions, as is typical in training exercises.”

The episode is the latest example of the Trump administration turning the military toward the president’s wishes in ways large and small — from summoning generals from around the world to Washington for a day of speeches to his lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

The Navy and other military branches typically use dummy, or inert, bombs for training and demonstrations. Dummies are cheaper than live bombs because they do not contain expensive explosives, fuses and other components. They’re also safer.

However, military officials often argue that the use of live ammunition for events like the 250th birthday celebration also fulfills a training purpose and that the ordnance would have been expended anyway at a later date. The Navy declined to comment.

The switch required Navy officials to change up detailed plans for the Norfolk military demonstration to ensure safety protocols were met, according to the three people familiar with the planning.

The White House pushed forward with the event despite a U.S. government shutdown, which has led nonessential federal workers to be sent home without pay and reduced operation of many non-critical government services.

A celebration for the Marines also used live artillery

Confirmation that the Navy decided to use live bombs instead of dummies at the Naval Base Norfolk event comes as the administration faces scrutiny over an Oct. 18 live fire demonstration at Camp Pendleton, in which a misfire of a live artillery round led to shrapnel spraying onto Interstate 5 in Southern California.

No one was injured when shrapnel struck two California Highway Patrol vehicles. That Camp Pendleton event marking the Marines 250th anniversary was attended by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Last week, 27 members of the California congressional delegation and the state’s two senators sent a letter to Hegseth asking whose decision it was to shoot live artillery over the busy freeway and how authorities planned for the safety risks.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who says he’ll weigh a 2028 White House run after the midterm elections next year, criticized the decision and closed a section of the roadway connecting San Diego to Los Angeles for hours during the Oct. 18 Marine showcase. The White House criticized him for closing the highway and said the Marines said there were no safety concerns.

Trump is a fan of military pomp

Trump hasn’t been shy about his fondness for pomp and pageantry that celebrates military might.

In his second term, he has pushed the U.S. services to hold big parades and demonstrations, an idea inspired by a Bastille Day parade he attended in France early in his first term. He was a guest of honor at the 2017 event, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I.

The Army included tanks in a June parade in the nation’s capital, requested by Trump, to mark its 250 years despite concerns from city officials that the heavy vehicles would damage the city’s streets. And he appeared to relish the massive military welcome he received last month during his second state visit to the United Kingdom.

At the Navy celebration this month in Norfolk, the president and first lady Melania Trump watched the military demonstration from the deck of an aircraft carrier before Trump delivered a speech in which he criticized his political opponents and attacked Democratic lawmakers.

At sea, the Navy had seven Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers fire a variety of their guns, including a large 5-inch gun. Four destroyers also launched the Navy’s Standard Missile 2 (SM-2). Each missile costs approximately $2 million.

Meanwhile, aircraft from USS Truman’s air wing fired missiles and general-purpose bombs and performed a strafing run with their gatling guns. The Navy’s MH-60S Seahawk helicopters also fired hydra rockets and guns.

Trump then spoke on a pier between two towering Navy vessels, an aircraft carrier and an amphibious assault ship. The carrier displayed a Navy fighter jet that had the words “President Donald J. Trump ‘45-47’” printed on the fuselage, right under the cockpit window.

A Navy spokesperson told the AP shortly after the event that sailors put the president’s name on the aircraft for the visit and this was “customary for visits of this type.”

In addition to the live bomb demonstration, Navy destroyers launched missiles and fired shells into the Atlantic Ocean, and Navy SEALs descended from helicopters and fighter jets catapulted off vessels.

The shift to live bombs also required further spreading out of the guided missile destroyers in the waters off Norfolk for the military demonstration.

Madhani, Toropin and Mascaro write for the Associated Press.

Oct. 28 (UPI) — A Mexican father and son duo residing legally in Alabama were arrested and charged with allegedly trafficking of hundreds of weapons, as well as magazines and ammunition.

Emilio Ramirez Cortes and his son, Edgar Emilio Ramirez Diaz, were stopped Thursday by U.S. border agents as they approached the Juarez-Lincoln Port of Entry in Laredo in two separate vehicles loaded with more than 300 hundred weapons, magazines and rounds of ammunition.

“This seizure of an immense quantity of firearms illustrates the Southern District of Texas’s full-spectrum approach to fighting the cartels,” U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said.

“We will attack every facet of their operations until they are wiped off the face of the earth,” he added in a statement.

Ramirez Cortes, a Mexican citizen who legally resides in Alabama, reportedly drove a Chevrolet Silverado with a Mexican license plate while his son sat behind the wheel of an Alabama-plated Chevrolet Tahoe and appeared to drive in tandem.

Both vehicles were seen hauling enclosed white box utility trailers in which authorities found false walls hiding well over 300 rifles and pistols “as well as various caliber ammunition and magazines,” federal officials allege.

Court records allege the men were paid for the smuggling attempt and made similar trips on multiple occasions.

U.S. border officials said this summer that CBP officers near the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas continue to seize a “large” number of outbound firearms in scores of attempted smugglings to other countries.

In the last two years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized over 400 handguns and long arms, nearly 1,000 magazines and gun parts, and nearly 52,000 rounds of ammunition.

Ganjei said those who “illegally traffic guns to Mexico empower cartels to terrorize the innocent.”

Meanwhile, Ramirez Cortes and Ramirez Diaz made initial court appearances in a federal court in Laredo.

Both men were charged with smuggling firearms, ammunition, magazines and other accessories as well as firearm trafficking.

They remain in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for Friday.

The image of a grieving parent is not an uncommon sight on the dramatic stage. Euripides, whom Aristotle called “the most tragic of the poets,” returns to the figure of the grief-stricken parent in “Hecuba,” “Hippolytus” and “The Bacchae,” to cite just a few disparate examples of characters brought to their knees by the death of their child.

Shakespeare offers what has become the defining portrait of this inconsolable experience in “King Lear.” Cradling the lifeless body of his murdered daughter, Lear can do nothing but repeat the word “never” five times, the repetition driving home the irrevocable nature of loss.

In tragedy, the protagonist is often plagued by guilt for his own role, however inadvertent or inescapable, in the catastrophe that befell his loved one. Theseus in “Hippolytus” and Agave in “The Bacchae” both have reason to feel that they have blood on their hands. Lear, though “more sinned against than sinning,” recognizes only after it’s too late the error in judgment that led to the devastation from which there can be no return.

The difference with “Guac,” the one-man performance work at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, is that Manuel Oliver isn’t just playing a bereaved father. He is one.

Manuel Oliver in “Guac.”

(Cameron Whitman)

Oliver’s 17-year-old son, Joaquín, known as Guac to family and friends, was one of the 17 lives lost in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The production, written and performed by Oliver, turns a parent’s grief into a theatrical work of activism.

Co-written by James Clements and directed by Michael Cotey, “Guac” has been sharing the story of Joaquín’s short but vividly lived life with audiences around the country. Oliver didn’t just love his son. He liked him. Guac was his best friend. He was also his trusted guide to American culture.

Immigrants from Venezuela, the family had made a new start in a country that Guac helped them feel was their home. To convey the meaning of Guac’s life, Oliver introduces his family members through a series of photo images he has crafted into artworks.

The last picture, and the one that remains staring at us throughout the performance, is of Guac. Oliver continues to enhance the portrait. While adding flourishes to the background and making adjustments to what his son is wearing, he tells us about the life they shared before it was tragically stolen.

Manuel Oliver works on a portrait of his late son in “Guac.”

(Donna F. Aceto)

The tragedy is overwhelmingly real. Oliver bears the weight of it by transforming his grief into fuel for activism. The performance makes the case for stricter gun law in America with the heartbreaking eloquence of a father whose life changed permanently after dropping his son off at school on a Valentine’s Day that started so promisingly.

What happened to Joaquín could happen to any of us, anytime, anywhere, in a country that has allowed its elected officials to deflect responsibility for their repeated failure to pass common sense gun legislation. While taking money from the NRA, these cynical politicians offer empty “thoughts and prayers” in place of meaningful reform. The result is that no one can go anywhere in public without eyeing the emergency exits and scanning the crowd for trouble.

Oliver isn’t a polished theatrical professional. He’s a dad, first and foremost. But it’s his comfortable ordinariness that allows him to make such a powerful connection with the audience. He’s onstage but could very well be exchanging a few neighborly words with us on our street.

Oliver summons his son by joyfully remembering his virtuosity on air guitar. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” resounds throughout the Douglas while he enlivens the portrait with impassioned strokes. The words “I wish I was here” are added to Guac’s T-shirt, and it’s a sentiment we all devoutly, agonizingly share as Oliver brings his wife, Patricia, onto a stage that has urgently become an extension of our national reality.

In honor of Joaquín, the couple formed Change the Ref, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about mass shootings and empowering the next generation of activists through “creativity, activism, disruption and education.” “Guac” is a potent example of what can be done in the wake of a tragedy that can no longer be described as unthinkable.

The populist government has blamed the 2024 attack on ‘hatred’ spread by opposition and critical media.

A Slovak court has convicted the pensioner who shot Prime Minister Robert Fico last year of a “terror attack” and sentenced him to 21 years in prison.

The Specialised Criminal Court in Banska Bystrica convicted and sentenced 72-year-old Juraj Cintula on Tuesday, saying he had acted “with a motivation to stop a proper functioning of the government” in a “particularly serious” crime.

Cintula, a poet from Levice in western Slovakia, shot Fico four times at close range on May 15, 2024 as the premier left a government meeting in central Slovakia.

He later claimed he was driven by “moral despair”. Fico was left seriously wounded but returned to work two months later.

The shooting and subsequent trial have shaken the small NATO-member country.

Now serving his fourth term as prime minister, Fico has repeatedly accused the liberal opposition and media of fuelling the assassination attempt, without presenting evidence.

Prosecutors originally charged Cintula with premeditated murder, but they later reclassified the shooting as a “terror attack”, citing his political motivation.

Critics have said that since the shooting, the populist Fico has become increasingly divisive, accelerating his alignment of Slovakia’s foreign policy with Russia, increasing criticism of the European Union, and implementing authoritarian and hardline conservative policy.

‘Most likely appeal’

“It was worth it,” local media quoted Cintula as shouting as he left court earlier this month after giving his closing trial statement.

After the shooting, Cintula had told police he wanted to protest against steps taken by Fico’s government, including the halting of military aid to war-ravaged Ukraine, according to a leaked video.

He claimed he had sought to hurt, but not kill, the prime minister.

In his final trial statement, a visibly emotional Cintula told the court he had been overcome with “moral despair”, accusing the prime minister of being “drunk with power” and making “irrational decisions that damage this country”.

He called his defence “a manifesto … for all those who feel that the arrogance of power, corruption and lies has no place in the country where our children will grow up”.

“The premier … embodied years of accumulated frustration and despair,” Cintula said.

Cintula’s lawyer, Namir Alyasry, told reporters after the hearing that he would “most likely appeal” the verdict.

The prime minister was not present at the trial and did not immediately comment on the verdict.

He previously said he forgave the attacker, whom he described as merely a “messenger of evil and political hatred” developed by the “politically unsuccessful and frustrated opposition”.

Since his return to office in 2023, Fico’s government has launched a crackdown on nonprofit organisations, cultural institutions and some media outlets it deems “hostile”, prompting mass protests.

Fico has also angered the opposition by calling for an end to Slovakia’s support for Ukraine, criticising EU sanctions targeting Russia and saying he would not allow Ukraine to join NATO.

Last month, the Slovak parliament approved a constitutional amendment to limit the rights of same-sex couples as part of a sweeping change that also states that national law takes precedence over EU law.

Published on
21/10/2025 – 9:22 GMT+2

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Kenny Loggins has reacted to Donald Trump using his song ‘Danger Zone’ in the president’s “disgusting” AI-generated video showing himself wearing a crown, flying a “KING TRUMP” fighter jet and bombing a crowd of protesters with feces.

The video was published as a response to the historic “No Kings” protests which took place across the US on Saturday.

The American singer-songwriter recorded the hit song for the soundtrack of the 1986 Tom Cruise movie Top Gun. He has now called for Trump’s video to be taken down on copyright grounds.

In a statement to Variety, Loggins said: “This is an unauthorized use of my performance of ‘Danger Zone.’ Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately.”

He continued: “I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together.”

“We’re all Americans, and we’re all patriotic. There is no ‘us and them’ — that’s not who we are, nor is it what we should be. It’s all of us. We’re in this together, and it is my hope that we can embrace music as a way of celebrating and uniting each and every one of us.”

Well put – especially considering the video has provoked widespread outrage online, with many expressing dismay over the way it shows Trump’s clear disdain for people exercising their right to protest.

Social media users accused Trump of having “the maturity and decorum of a 12-year-old boy”, while others commented: “Can’t believe that’s a president of a country.”

Many posts also pointed out that Trump’s “childish” and “disgusting” AI post revealed a transparent representation of his genuine feelings toward the American people. “It tells you everything you need to know about what he thinks about the people of America who are, in fact, America,” one person commented, while another added: “Him taking a dump on the country is the most honest thing he’s ever posted.”

This is far from the first time that Trump and his administration have used artists’ work without authorisation.

There is an extensive list of musicians who have objected to Trump’s authorized use of their songs. These include ABBA, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Neil Young, R.E.M., Woodkid, Beyoncé and Semisonic.

Sinead O’Connor’s estate previously issued Trump with cease-and-desist orders, while Isaac Hayes’ estate sued him for 134 counts of copywright infringement.

Céline Dion also condemned the use of her song from the Oscar-winning film Titanic, ‘My Heart Will Go On’, which was used at one of Trump’s rallies. Dion’s team questioned the song choice, writing: “And really, THAT song?”

Another band which added their name to the ever-growing list of artists who have sued Trump over the illegal use of their songs in campaign videos was The White Stripes. Last year, the rock band highlighted the “flagrant misappropriation” of their hit song ‘Seven Nation Army’. Jack White captioned a copy of the legal complaint in an Instagram post with: “This machine sues fascists.”

The most recent example to date is Metallica, who forced the US government to withdraw a social media video that used their song ‘Enter Sandman’ without authorisation.

This weekend’s “No Kings” protests saw millions of Americans marching against Trump’s administration, opposing the president’s “authoritarian power grab.”

The 18 October protest, the third mass mobilisation since Trump’s return to the White House, drew nearly 7 million people across all 50 states according to organisers. This figure would make it the largest single-day mobilisation against a US president in modern history.

WASHINGTON  — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide if “habitual drug users” lose their gun rights under the 2nd Amendment.

The Trump administration is defending a federal gun control law dating to 1968 and challenging the rulings of two conservative appeals court that struck down the ban on gun possession by any “unlawful user” of illegal drugs, including marijuana.

Trump’s lawyers say this limit on gun rights comports with early American history when “common drunkards” were prohibited from having guns.

And they argue this “modest, modern” limit make sense because well-armed drug addicts “present unique dangers to society — especially because they pose a grave risk of armed, hostile encounters with police officers while impaired.”

The government says the ban applies only to addicts and “habitual users of illegal drugs,” not to all those who have used drugs on occasion or in the past.

Under this interpretation, the law “imposes a limited, inherently temporary restriction — one which the individual can remove at any time simply by ceasing his unlawful drug use,” the administration’s attorneys told the court.

The appeal noted that California and 31 other states have laws restricting gun possession by drug users and drug addicts, all of which could be nullified by a broad reading of the 2nd Amendment

The court said it will hear the case of a Texas man and a Pakistani native who came under investigation by the FBI for allegedly working with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

When agents with warrant searched the home of Ali Denali Hemani, they found a Glock pistol, 60 grams of marijuana, and 4.7 grams of cocaine. He told the agents he used marijuana about every other day.

He was charged with violating the federal gun control law, but the 5th Circuit Court in New Orleans ruled this ban on gun possession violates the 2nd Amendment unless the defendant was under the influence of drugs when he was arrested.

The 8th Circuit Court based in St. Louis adopted a similar view that gun ban for drug users is unconstitutional.

The Trump administration asked the justices to hear the case of U.S. vs. Hemani and to reverse the two lower courts. Arguments are likely to be heard in January.

Last year, the justices rejected a gun rights claim in another case from Texas and ruled that a man charged with domestic violence can lose his rights to have firearms.

Historically, people who “threaten physical harm to others” have lost their legal rights to guns, Chief Justice John G. Roberts said in an 8-1 decision.

SACRAMENTO — Gun rights organizations filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new California law that bans certain types of Glock-style semiautomatic firearms.

The law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week, prohibits the sale of semiautomatic pistols with a “cruciform trigger bar” — a feature that allows gun owners to attach a device, commonly called a switch, that boosts the weapon’s firepower and converts it into a machine gun capable of spraying dozens of bullets in a fraction of a second.

“Newsom and his gang of progressive politicians in California are continuing their crusade against constitutional rights,” John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement. “They are attempting to violate landmark Supreme Court decisions and disarm law-abiding citizens by banning some of the most commonly owned handguns in America.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, alleges the law violates the 2nd Amendment. Plaintiffs include the NRA, Firearms Policy Coalition, and the Second Amendment Foundation, as well as some individuals and smaller businesses.

The legal action alleges that California’s new law essentially bans the sale of certain Glock-brand handguns and others with similar features that allow modification by owners.

“A law that bans the sale of — and correspondingly prevents citizens from acquiring — a weapon in common use violates the Second Amendment,” the lawsuit states. “Semiautomatic handguns with cruciform trigger bars are not different from any other type of semiautomatic handgun in a constitutionally relevant way. The Supreme Court has already held that handguns are in common use and cannot be banned.”

The lawsuit states the only justification for banning a firearm is when the weapon is “dangerous and unusual” and argues that semiautomatic pistols are neither.

“They are also unquestionably in common use for lawful purposes,” the lawsuit states. “In fact, they are among the most popular handguns in the nation.”

Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, who introduced Assembly Bill 1127, said his bill was intended to help protect communities from gun violence.

“Automatic weapons are exceptionally lethal and capable of firing hundreds of rounds per minute; they are illegal in California,” he told the Senate Public Safety Committee in July. “Unfortunately, some semiautomatic firearms feature a dangerous design element allowing them to be converted to automatic weapons through the attachment of an easy-to-use device known as a switch.”

Over the last few years, handguns retrofitted with switches were used in several prominent shootings in California, including the 2022 mass shooting in downtown Sacramento that left six people dead and a dozen injured.

Machine gun conversion switches are illegal in the United States and are mostly manufactured overseas. They also can be built at home using 3D printers. Instructions for installing one on a firearm can be found online and require little to no technical expertise.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported a 570% increase in the number of conversion devices collected by police departments between 2017 and 2021, according to the Associated Press.

The American subsidiary of Belgian gunmaker Fabrique Nationale (FN) has delivered new prototype rifles and machine guns chambered to fire the 6.5x43mm Lightweight Intermediate Caliber Cartridge (LICC) to the U.S. military. LICC is one of several avenues the U.S. military has pursued in the past decade to find new small arms that offer greater range and terminal effectiveness, particularly over existing types firing the 5.56x45mm round. Though a U.S.-led effort, Canada has also been deeply involved in LICC.

FN America put out a press release today saying it had provided an unspecified number of test samples of the LICC-Individual Weapon System (LICC-IWS) and LICC-Assault Machine Gun (LICC-AMG) to the Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate (IWTSD). The IWTSD, first established in 1999 as the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO), resides within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict. It is charged with identifying and developing new capabilities primarily to aid in irregular warfare operations. In U.S. military parlance, irregular warfare is an umbrella term that encompasses a host of lower-intensity mission sets, including counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism, as well as advising and assisting foreign forces, often performed by special operations units.

The LICC effort traces its roots back to the mid-2010s. The 6.5x43mm cartridge evolved directly from the .264 USA round, which was developed internally by the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU). FN has been under contract to develop a weapon system to go with the LICC ammunition since 2019. The steel-cased 6.5x43mm rounds are 20 percent lighter than equivalent cartridges with brass cases, and have better accuracy, range, and performance compared to typical 5.56x45mm loadings, according to the company.

The LICC-IWS is a version of FN’s Improved Performance Carbine (IPC). Though it has some broad external resemblances to the AR-15/M16 family, as well as larger AR-10-style guns, the IPC is a proprietary gas-piston operated design that first broke cover in 2023.

FN America has developed three subvariants of the LICC-IWS with 12.5-inch, 14.5-inch, and 18-inch barrels, referred to as the Close Quarters Battle, Carbine, and Designated Marksmanship Rifle types, respectively. The company says the 14.5-inch barrelled version is 35 and a half inches overall (32 and a half inches with its stock collapsed) and weighs 7.75 pounds. This puts it in the same general size and weight class as the 5.56x45mm M4A1 carbine, which continues to be widely issued across the U.S. military and has been something of a control standard for the LICC effort.

“Initial test firing results from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and other operators show that the accuracy of the LICC-IWS is consistently two times better than the M4A1,” Jim Williams, Vice President of Military Programs for FN America, said in a statement today. “Additionally, the LICC-IWS handles like the M4A1, yet remains soft shooting when firing the new 6.5×43 lightweight ammunition.”

The LICC-AMG is a 6.5x43mm variant of FN’s Evolys machine gun, which made its public debut in 2021. The belt-fed Evolys is also offered chambered in 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm. The LICC version has a 14.5-inch barrel, is nearly 40 inches long overall (36 and a half inches with its stock collapsed), and weighs nearly 14 pounds. FN America says it has tested the LICC-AMG against its Mk 48, Mk 46, and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) machine guns. The Mk 48 is a 7.62x51mm derivative of the 5.56x45mm M249. The Mk 46 is a special-purpose subvariant of the M249. All three types are in service with various elements of the U.S. military.

“In prototype testing, the AMG was more accurate than the FN MK 48 in full auto mode,” according to FN America’s release today. “Overall, the AMG demonstrated improved performance in lethality, accuracy, durability, balance, and handling over the FN M249 and FN MK 46/MK 48 machine guns.”

“FN’s ultimate goal is to advance from development into production and field a final solution that provides operators a system that is easier to operate, more accurate and more effective than anything available today,” Mark Cherpes, President and CEO for FN America, also said in a statement. “After this test and evaluation phase, our plan is to take user feedback, fine-tune the systems, and move into low-rate initial production.”

“Multiple users will test the operational samples, providing critical feedback to aid FN and IWTSD in the final development of the systems,” today’s press release adds.

All this being said, what the exact plan is going forward for the LICC effort, and who might be in line to field the LICC-IWS and/or the LICC-AMG on any level, is not entirely clear. Key to the genesis of the preceding .264 USA cartridge were lessons learned by U.S. forces from combat in Afghanistan during the Global War on Terror era, where being outranged was a common complaint.

“Tactical operators require an integrated, user-tailorable, lightweight shoulder-fired individual weapon and lightweight intermediate caliber cartridge (LICC) that can overmatch the current maximum effective range and terminal effects of peer, near peer, and future threat individual weapons and ammunition, while also defeating current and emerging threat individual protective equipment out to 800 meters,” what was then CCTSO had said in a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) contracting notice back in 2018.

Since then, the U.S. Army has selected a new standard service rifle and replacement for the M249, the M7 and M250, both from Sig Sauer and chambered to fire a 6.8x51mm round. The Next Generation Squad Weapons program that birthed those weapons was driven heavily by the same concerns about range as LICC, as well as improvements in adversary body armor.

Army special operations units were involved in developmental testing of the M7 and M250, though it remains to be seen how widespread the use of those guns within the broader special operations community might be in the end. The M7 rifle has been the subject of some controversy recently, including criticism about its weight, bulk, and increased recoil compared to the M4A1, as you can read more about here.

In recent years, the U.S. special operations community has also increasingly embraced the 6.5mm Creedmoor round, again because of the increased range, accuracy, and terminal performance it offers over 5.56x45mm, as well as 7.62x51mm. U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has ordered examples of at least two new rifles in this caliber in the past two years, and has also been evaluating belt-fed machine guns chambered to fire this round.

This all prompts a question of whether the IWTSD is now continuing to pursue LICC with more of an eye toward requirements from foreign allies and partners. As mentioned, Canada is known to be heavily involved in the effort. The 2018 BAA notably used Colt Canada’s C8 Special Forces Weapon (SFW), an AR-15/M16 pattern carbine distinct from the U.S. standard M4A1, as the comparison point for many of the stated LICC requirements. At the time of writing, the LICC-IWS and LICC-AMG pages on FN America’s website notably show the IWTSD logo and the crest of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM).

“With an eye to the future, CANSOFCOM is pursuing a NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) for 6.5 x 43 mm in partnership with at least one additional NATO member,” Soldier Systems Daily reported earlier this year, citing unnamed sources. “At this point, the other party has not been disclosed. However, I know it is not the US, which has been working on the 6.8 x 51mm common case cartridge as their path forward.”

Canada has historically been very tight-lipped about its special operations community.

Whatever the case, FN America is clearly continuing to work with the IWTSD to advance the LICC effort, with series production of guns chambered in that round now said to be finally on the horizon.

Contact the author: [email protected]

WASHINGTON  — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide if licensed guns owners have a right to carry their weapons at public places, including parks, beaches and stores.

At issue are laws in California, Hawaii and three other states that generally prohibit carrying guns on private or public property.

Three years ago, Supreme Court ruled that law-abiding gun owners had a 2nd Amendment right to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon when they leave home.

But the justices left open the question of whether states and cities could prohibit the carrying of guns in “sensitive locations,” and if so, where.

In response, California enacted a strict law that forbids gun owners from carrying their firearm in most public or private places that are open to the public unless the owner posted a sign permitting such weapons.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down that provision last year as going too far, but it upheld most of a Hawaii law that restricted the carrying of guns at public places and most private businesses that are open to the public.

Gun-rights advocates appealed to the Supreme Court and urged the justices to rule that such restrictions on carrying concealed weapons violate the 2nd Amendment.

The court agreed to hear the case early next year.

Trump administration lawyers urged the justices to strike down the Hawaii law.

It “functions as a near-complete ban on public carry. A person carrying a handgun for self-defense commits a crime by entering a mall, a gas station, a convenience store, a supermarket, a restaurant, a coffee shop, or even a parking lot,” said Solicitor General D. John Sauer.

Gun-control advocates said Hawaii had enacted a “common sense law that prohibits carrying firearms on others’ private property open to the public.”

“The 9th Circuit was absolutely right to say it’s constitutional to prohibit guns on private property unless the owner says they want guns there,” said Janet Carter, managing director of Second Amendment Litigation, at Everytown Law. “This law respects people’s right to be safe on their own property, and we urge the Supreme Court to uphold it.”

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Robert Luna, claiming the department violated county gunowners’ 2nd Amendment rights by delaying thousands of concealed carry permit application decisions for “unreasonable” periods of time.

In a statement, the DOJ claimed that the Sheriff’s Department “systematically denied thousands of law-abiding Californians their fundamental Second Amendment right to bear arms outside the home — not through outright refusal, but through a deliberate pattern of unconscionable delay.”

The complaint, filed in the Central District of California, the federal court in Los Angeles, cites data provided by the Sheriff’s Department about the more than 8,000 concealed carry permit applications and renewal applications it received between Jan. 2, 2024, and March 31.

During that period, the DOJ wrote, it took an average of nearly 300 days for the Sheriff’s Department to schedule interviews to approve the applications or “otherwise” advance them.

As a result, of the nearly 4,000 applications for new concealed carry licenses it received during those 15 months, “LASD issued only two licenses.” Two others were denied, the DOJ said, while the rest remained pending or were withdrawn.

The Sheriff’s Department did not immediately provide comment Monday. In March, when the Trump administration announced its 2nd Amendment investigation, the department said it was “committed to processing all Concealed Carry Weapons [CCW] applications in compliance with state and local laws.”

The department’s statement said it had approved 15,000 applications for concealed carry licenses but that because of “a significant staffing crisis in our CCW Unit” it was “diligenty working through approximately 4,000 active cases.”

Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said Monday that the DOJ was working to safeguard the 2nd Amendment, which “protects the fundamental constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms.”

“Los Angeles County may not like that right, but the Constitution does not allow them to infringe upon it,” Bondi said. “This Department of Justice will continue to fight for the Second Amendment.”

The federal agency’s complaint alleged that the practice of delaying the applications effectively forced gun permit applicants “to abandon their constitutional rights through administrative exhaustion.”

In December 2023, the California Rifle and Pistol Assn. sued the Sheriff’s Department over what it alleged were improper delays and rejections of applications for concealed carry licenses. In January, U.S. District Court Judge Sherilyn P. Garnett ordered the department to reduce delays.

In the new complaint, the DOJ called on the court to issue a permanent injunction.

Gun rights groups heralded the move by the Trump administration.

“This is a landmark lawsuit in that it’s the first time the Department of Justice has ever filed a case in support of gun owners,” Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to see the federal government step up and defend the Second Amendment rights of citizens and hope this pattern continues around the country.”

The governor of Utah has been criticised after he said he prayed that the man suspected of shooting Charlie Kirk “wouldn’t be one of us.” In Friday’s briefing, US officials revealed that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson had been arrested and that he had engraved messages on bullets.

NEW YORK — Matthew Dowd’s firing has opened a floodgate.

The MSNBC political analyst, who lost his job shortly after on-air comments about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, was the first of many figures to face consequences Thursday for public statements or actions about the shooting.

Raw feelings about the killing have ignited a campaign to shame — and worse. Several conservative activists sought to identify social media users whose posts about Kirk they viewed as offensive or celebratory. Right-wing influencer Laura Loomer said she would try to ruin the professional aspirations of anyone who celebrated Kirk’s death.

MSNBC said Dowd is no longer with the network after his comments, shortly after the shooting, in which he said that “hateful words” can lead to “hateful actions.” Both MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler and Dowd apologized for the remarks, which Kutler called “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”

Dowd said he didn’t intend for his comments to blame Kirk for the attack, as some may have construed them. Still, it brought an abrupt interruption to his work as a television commentator, which the former aide to President George W. Bush has done for nearly two decades.

The moves to curb certain public commentary after Kirk’s death are particularly notable, as his admirers had lauded him as a champion of free speech.

Actions spread across country

A Florida reporter was suspended for a question posed to a congressman. A comic book writer lost her job because of social media posts, as did educators in Mississippi and Tennessee. “CBS Mornings” host Nate Burleson was attacked for a question he asked. An Arizona sports reporter and a Carolina Panthers public relations official lost their jobs.

An anonymously registered website pledged to “Expose Charlie’s Murderers” and asked people to offer tips about people who were “supporting political violence online.”

The site published a running list Thursday of targeted posts, along with the names, locations and employers of people who posted them. While some posts contained incendiary language, others didn’t appear to celebrate the shooting or glorify violence. There were several similar efforts, including one by activist Scott Presler, who asked his followers about teachers purported to have celebrated Kirk’s killing and posted findings on X.

A staff member at the University of Mississippi was fired after sharing “insensitive comments” about Kirk’s death, according to the school’s chancellor, Glenn Boyce. The university did not identify the employee or immediately respond to questions from the Associated Press.

The president of Middle Tennessee State University said he’d fired a staffer who offered “callous and inappropriate comments on social media” about Kirk’s shooting. President Sidney A. McPhee did not identify the staff member but said the person “worked in a position of trust with our students.”

It wasn’t clear if it was the same person, but an X post by Tennessee GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn identified an assistant dean of students at MTSU who posted online that she had “ZERO sympathy” after the shooting. Blackburn said the person should be ashamed and fired.

A warning to teachers in Florida

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ education commissioner warned the state’s teachers that making “disgusting” statements about Kirk’s killing could draw sanctions, including the suspension or revocation of teaching licenses. Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas said in a memo to school district superintendents that he’d been made aware of “despicable” comments on social media.

“I will be conducting an investigation of every educator who engages in this vile, sanctionable behavior,” Kamoutsas said in the memo, which he also posted on X on Thursday. “Govern yourselves accordingly.”

The rush to police commentary appeared to have little precedent in other recent examples of political violence, such as the 2022 home-invasion hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; or the shooting deaths in June of Minnesota House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

DC Comics announced that it was ditching a new “Red Hood” series, a Batman spinoff, after one issue had been published and two more were in the works. The comics’ writer, Gretchen Felker-Martin, had published comments about Kirk’s shooting online that DC called offensive.

“Posts or public comments that can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence are inconsistent with DC’s standards of conduct,” the comics publisher said.

Loomer, an informal advisor to President Trump whose pressure campaigns have resulted in several firings in his administration, attacked the entertainment website TMZ for what she called a “disgusting” livestream in which employees could be heard laughing and cheering seconds before Kirk’s death was announced. TMZ said the noise had nothing to do with the Kirk story — the staff members were crowded around a computer watching a car chase — but apologized for the bad timing and how it looked to viewers.

A writer for the Arizona media company PHNX Sports was fired after conservative activists called attention to a series of online posts that attacked Kirk’s positions on guns and Gaza and called him evil.

The NFL’s Carolina Panthers distanced themselves from an employee who posted comments about Kirk and a photo referencing Wu-Tang Clan’s song “Protect Ya Neck.” Kirk was shot in the neck. Football communications coordinator Charlie Rock was fired, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke under condition of anonymity because the team typically doesn’t announce firings.

Rock’s name has been removed from the team’s website. He did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

CBS News anchor under attack

Burleson, a former NFL star turned anchor for CBS News’ morning show, was attacked online for asking former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the air Thursday whether this was a moment for the Republican Party to reflect on political violence. His co-anchor, Gayle King, immediately tried to soften the question by interjecting, “I’d say both parties.”

Another former NFL player, Jay Feely, running for Congress in Arizona, said the question was offensive. “Charlie Kirk was assassinated in front of his family and you ask if Republicans need to tone down their rhetoric?” he said. (Kirk’s family was not present at the shooting.) Some conservative media stars also weighed in, with talk show host Erick Erickson calling for Burleson to be fired and Clay Travis calling him a ”moron.”

A reporter for the Floridapolitics.com news site was suspended for texting a Florida congressman a question about gun control immediately after Kirk’s shooting. Peter Schorsch, Floridapolitics.com publisher, said he was concerned that reporter A.G. Gancarski was trying to provoke a source rather than initiate a serious policy discussion. Utah law allows people to carry guns on college campuses; Kirk was slain on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.

U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, texted back that he had learned of Kirk’s shooting only 23 minutes earlier and was repulsed to get the question when people should be praying for Kirk’s safety. Schorsch said he agreed that the timing was inappropriate, and didn’t want any of his staff members to be put in danger by anyone angry about it.

“I think everybody today should be asking questions about a wide range of policies,” Schorsch said in an interview Thursday. “But when a house is on fire, I don’t think you should ask questions about a person’s insurance policy. You put out the fire first.”

He said Gancarski was a good reporter who made a mistake. He’ll be back on the job after a few days out. Gancarski, reached by phone, declined comment.

The feminist website Jezebel removed a post headlined “We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk” that was published Monday, two days before Kirk’s death. “The piece was intended as satire and made it absolutely clear that we wished no physical harm. We stand by every word,” Jezebel said in an editor’s note.

“We may republish at a later date, but out of compassion for the victim’s family, we want to make clear that we prioritize an end to violence over anyone wanting to read about Etsy witches,” Jezebel said, in a reference to the online storefront.

Bauder and Swenson write for the Associated Press. AP journalists Sophie Bates, Kate Payne, Steve Reed and Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this report.

Charlie Kirk, a right-wing activist and commentator who became a household name in the United States as an outspoken ally of President Donald Trump, has been shot and killed at a Utah college event.

As the CEO and cofounder of the conservative youth organisation Turning Point USA, the 31-year-old Kirk attracted millions of viewers online for his outdoor debates on US college campuses.

Video of the shooting circulating on social media showed Kirk speaking to a large outdoor crowd and, moments later, falling off his chair with his hands on his neck after a loud crack that sounded like a gunshot.

He was pronounced dead after being brought to hospital in critical condition.

Utah authorities said Kirk was killed with a single shot that likely came from the rooftop of a nearby building in what is believed to be a targeted killing.

FBI director Kash Patel said a suspect in the shooting had been taken into custody but then released after interrogation.

The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency https://t.co/YXsG6YpFR5

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) September 10, 2025

Kirk was known for his polarising debates on hot-button topics, including transgender identity and abortion.

An online petition calling on university administrators to prevent him from speaking on Wednesday had received nearly 1,000 signatures.

With the rise of political violence across the US in recent years, Kirk’s killing has brought condemnation from both sides of the political spectrum.

Here are reactions to the news of Kirk’s death:

US President Donald Trump

President Trump, who survived two assassination attempts last year, wrote on his Truth Social platform that “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead”.

Playing the role of adviser and supporter in previous Trump election campaigns, Kirk developed a close relationship with Trump’s campaign team and his family.

“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me,” Trump wrote.

“In honour of Charlie Kirk, a truly Great American Patriot, I am ordering all American Flags throughout the United States lowered to Half Mast until Sunday evening at 6 PM,” he said.

Former US President Joe Biden

Joe Biden, who was running for president in 2020 when Kirk was a vocal ally of the Trump campaign, condemned the shooting on the X platform.

“There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones,” he wrote.

There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 10, 2025

Former US President Barack Obama

“We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy. Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.”

We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy. Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 10, 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Kirk repeatedly professed his Christian Evangelical faith and was a staunch supporter of Israel during his on-air debates at college campuses. In a post on X, Israel’s Netanyahu regretted that the activist could not visit Israel as planned.

“Charlie Kirk was murdered for speaking truth and defending freedom. A lion-hearted friend of Israel, he fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization. I spoke to him only two weeks ago and invited him to Israel. Sadly, that visit will not take place. We lost an incredible human being. His boundless pride in America and his valiant belief in free speech will leave a lasting impact.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer

“My thoughts this evening are with the loved ones of Charlie Kirk. It is heartbreaking that a young family has been robbed of a father and a husband.

“We must all be free to debate openly and freely without fear – there can be no justification for political violence,” he wrote.

My thoughts this evening are with the loved ones of Charlie Kirk.

It is heartbreaking that a young family has been robbed of a father and a husband.

We must all be free to debate openly and freely without fear – there can be no justification for political violence.

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) September 10, 2025

Robert F Kennedy Jr, US Secretary of Health and Human Services

“Once again, a bullet has silenced the most eloquent truth teller of an era. My dear friend Charlie Kirk was our country’s relentless and courageous crusader for free speech. We pray for Erika and the children,” Kennedy wrote on X.

“Charlie is already in paradise with the angels. We ask his prayers for our country.”

Hollywood actor Mel Gibson

“The brutal murder of Charlie Kirk is nothing short of evil a cowardly attack on America’s very soul. Faith, family, freedom, the right to speak truth trampled by violence. My blood boils. Justice must be relentless and unforgiving,” he wrote.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

“If you knew him, you’d love him,” Hegseth told US troops, speaking of his admiration for and friendship with Kirk.

“Taken by an assassin’s bullet – unfathomable,” Hegseth said.

A prayer for Charlie Kirk and those who serve. pic.twitter.com/wWkEEvheRm

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) September 11, 2025

Dean Withers, American livestreamer and liberal political commentator

Withers, who was often seen on the opposite end of Kirk during debates on political YouTube channels, posted a video on TikTok, which now has more than 10 million views, saying: “I’m sad, distraught. In fact, I just cried in front of my livestream in front of 250,000 people.”

He continued, “[Gun violence] is always disgusting, always vile and always abhorrent.”

“My thoughts and prayers go out to Charlie Kirk’s friends, family, children, loved ones, as well as every single person in attendance at his event today in Utah.”

Eduardo Bolsonaro – son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

Bolsonaro said in a post on the X platform that he was “shocked” by Kirk’s killing, whom he described as a “young man with a good heart … who dedicated his life to mobilising conservative youth in the US”.

“I had the honour of accompanying him in his work and know the greatness of his mission. Another conservative victim of hate and intolerance,” Bolsonaro wrote.

Reporting from Washington — It was an October afternoon when 13-year-old Andy Lopez, wearing shorts and a blue sweatshirt, walked down a sidewalk in Santa Rosa, Calif., loosely carrying at his side a plastic pellet gun that resembled an assault rifle.

Two Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies were driving in the neighborhood on a routine patrol. When Officer Erick Gelhaus, an Iraq war veteran, spotted the 5-foot-3 teenager, he thought the boy might be carrying an AK-47.

Their patrol car swung behind Andy. From 60 feet away, Gelhaus jumped out, crouched behind the door and shouted “Drop the gun!”

As Andy began to turn toward him, Gelhaus fired eight shots, killing the boy.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to shield the deputy from being sued by the parents of the boy on the grounds that no law “squarely governs” this situation and would have alerted the officer that shooting the teenager on the sidewalk amounted to the use of “excessive force.”

Decision time: Supreme Court tackles cases on gay rights, gerrymandering, unions »

Joined by several California law enforcement groups, Sonoma County’s lawyers are urging the justices to “support the common sense proposition that officers need not wait for a gun to actually be leveled or pointed at them before responding with deadly force to protect themselves and the public.”

They stand a good chance of prevailing, even though the high court grants only about 1% of appeal petitions.

In recent years, the justices have regularly intervened in police shooting cases to overturn rulings that cleared the way for a jury to decide whether an officer used excessive force.

In April, the high court, by a 7-2 vote, tossed out a lawsuit against a Tucson police officer who shot a woman four times as she stood in her front yard holding a large kitchen knife. The officer, one of three who came on the scene, decided she was threatening another woman who stood six feet away. The other woman later testified they were housemates, and she did not feel threatened.

The justices reversed the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which had allowed the woman’s suit to proceed. “Use of excessive force is an area of law in which the result depends very much on the facts of each case, and thus police officers are entitled to qualified immunity unless existing precedent squarely governs the specific facts at issue,” the court said in Kisela vs. Hughes.

In dissent, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the decision “sends an alarming signal to law enforcement officers … that they can shoot first and think later.”

The shooting of Andy Lopez in 2013 sparked protests in Santa Rosa and an FBI investigation. But no charges were brought against Gelhaus, and the officer returned to duty in two months.

Andy’s parents sued under the long-standing federal civil rights law that authorizes suits against officers who violate a person’s constitutional rights. In this instance, the suit alleged a violation of the 4th Amendment’s ban on “unreasonable searches and seizures.”

Chief District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland refused to grant immunity to the officer, and the 9th Circuit Court, by a 2-1 vote, affirmed her decision last year.

Judge Milan D. Smith, an appointee of President George W. Bush, said the officer did not appear to face an imminent threat.

“Andy was walking normally … in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood” and carrying a weapon that another driver in the area saw as being a toy gun, even though it did not have an orange plastic tip. “Gelhaus deployed deadly force while Andy was standing on the sidewalk holding a gun that was pointed down at the ground,” Smith wrote. And he “shot without having warned [him] that such force would be used, and without observing any aggressive behavior.”

In dissent, Judge Clifford Wallace, a Nixon appointee, called the case “tragic. A boy lost his life, needlessly, as it turns out.” But the suit should be dismissed nonetheless. “The majority greatly understates the potential danger Andy posed as perceived by Deputy Gelhaus. [He] reasonably believed that Andy was carrying an AK-47,” he wrote.

Sonoma County appealed to the Supreme Court in Gelhaus vs. Lopez and said the recent ruling in the Tucson case calls for throwing out the suit against the deputy.

“No existing precedent ‘squarely governs’ the ‘specific facts’ at issue here,” the county said. Its petition described “the specific situation” as “an individual apparently armed with an assault rifle refusing to drop a weapon. … An officer need not wait to be put in harm’s way before responding in defense of himself and the surrounding community … when confronting an assault weapon capable of spraying 30 bullets in seconds.”

The justices considered the appeal in their private conference on May 31 and relisted it for further consideration this past week. They could act on the case as soon as Monday.

If they deny the appeal, the parents’ suit would go to trial in Oakland. The court could agree to hear the case in the fall. Or the justices may reverse the 9th Circuit’s decision to allow the suit by citing their recent ruling in the Tucson case.

The latest from Washington »

More stories from David G. Savage »

[email protected]

Twitter: DavidGSavage

Aug. 30 (UPI) — Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., is considering holding a special session of the state legislature to address gun laws following a shooting this week, according to multiple reports.

Walz, 61, is in the process of calling state legislators to gauge reaction to the idea, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

The news comes after two children were killed and 17 people were injured in a shooting during Mass at a Catholic school in Minneapolis this week.

The suspect, a 23-year-old transgender woman who reportedly previously attended the church school, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The two children killed were ages 8 and 10, while 14 of the people injured were also children.

“It’s time to take serious action at the State Capitol to address gun violence,” Walz said on X this week.

The governor has yet to officially comment on the reports of a potential special legislative session.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has been vocal in his support for changes to the state’s gun laws.

“We need action … to make sure everyone has this common foundation of safety. Let’s stop this from happening,” Frey, a Democrat, said in a video on X.

“I think we’d be happy to ban assault rifles here in Minneapolis,” he said in an interview.

Police confirmed this week the rifle, shotgun and pistol carried by suspected shooter Robin Westman were all obtained legally.

Walz is dealing with the tragedy only two months after a pair of state lawmakers and their spouses were shot — two fatally — in a politically-motivated attack.