Virginia set to remove limit on monthly gun purchases

By Matthew A. Ward

PORTSMOUTH, Va | Mon Feb 13, 2012 4:38pm EST

(Reuters) - Virginia is set to remove a limit of one handgun purchase per month that has been on the books for 19 years, one of a host of pro-gun measures moving through the legislature.

The state Senate voted 21-19 to amend Virginia law to eliminate the prohibition that was enacted in 1993 in an effort to curb gun-smuggling operations.

The vote confirmed a version of the measure passed by the House of Delegates in a 66-32 vote earlier this month, and now sends it to Republican Governor Bob McDonnell's desk.

Governor spokesman Jeff Caldwell told Reuters that McDonnell plans to sign the bill into law...

L.I. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy’s district on the chopping block

State losing two congressional seats based on Census results

By Kenneth Lovett / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 8:59 PM

ALBANY — Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy’s Long Island district is on the chopping block as state leaders begin redrawing congressional boundaries, the Daily News has learned.

State Senate and Assembly negotiators are looking at merging McCarthy’s Nassau County district into a Nassau-Queens district now held by fellow Dem Gary Ackerman, sources close to the planning said.

McCarthy’s current district “collides” with Ackerman’s, making it a perfect candidate for merger, insiders said.

The lines are expected to be drawn in a way that favors Ackerman in a potential primary....

Ohio Supreme Court sends Castle Doctrine case of Carl Kozlosky back to trial court

Published: Thursday, February 02, 2012, 5:40 AM

Pat Galbincea, The Plain Dealer

The Ohio Supreme Court declined Wednesday to hear the case of a 55-year-old Cleveland homeowner convicted in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court last year of killing an intruder.

When the 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals threw out the conviction of Carl Kozlosky and ordered a new trial, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason appealed the decision. The Ohio Supreme Court's decision Wednesday returns the case to Common Pleas Court.

Kozlosky was sentenced last year to 18 years to life in prison for the shooting death of Andre Coleman on Sept. 20, 2009. Coleman broke into Kozlosky's house and began beating up Valerie McNaughton, who was Coleman's girlfriend...

...Coleman, who had previously been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 1997, had been on an all-night crack binge, according to court testimony, when he broke down the back door of Kozlosky's Cherokee Avenue home to get money or drugs from McNaughton...

Do You Like Online Privacy? You May Be a Terrorist

February 1, 2012 in Featured

Public Intelligence

A flyer designed by the FBI and the Department of Justice to promote suspicious activity reporting in internet cafes lists basic tools used for online privacy as potential signs of terrorist activity. The document, part of a program called “Communities Against Terrorism”, lists the use of “anonymizers, portals, or other means to shield IP address” as a sign that a person could be engaged in or supporting terrorist activity. The use of encryption is also listed as a suspicious activity along with steganography, the practice of using “software to hide encrypted data in digital photos” or other media. In fact, the flyer recommends that anyone “overly concerned about privacy” or attempting to “shield the screen from view of others” should be considered suspicious and potentially engaged in terrorist activities.

Logging into an account associated with a residential internet service provider (such as Comcast or AOL), an activity that could simply indicate that you are on a trip, is also considered a suspicious activity. Viewing any content related to “military tactics” including manuals or “revolutionary literature” is also considered a potential indicator of terrorist activity. This would mean that viewing a number of websites, including the one you are on right now, could be construed by a hapless employee as an highly suspicious activity potentially linking you to terrorism.

The “Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activities” contained in the flyer are not to be construed alone as a sign of terrorist activity and the document notes that “just because someone’s speech, actions, beliefs, appearance, or way of life is different; it does not mean that he or she is suspicious.” However, many of the activities described in the document are basic practices of any individual concerned with security or privacy online. The use of PGP, VPNs, Tor or any of the many other technologies for anonymity and privacy online are directly targeted by the flyer, which is distributed to businesses in an effort to promote the reporting of these activities.

Slain border agent's family alleges lies over ATF gun program

It says then-U.S. Atty. Dennis Burke falsely told them guns found at the scene weren't part of the failed Operation Fast and Furious.

By Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau

8:50 PM PST, February 1, 2012

Reporting from Washington

The family of slain U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry charged Wednesday that the top federal prosecutor in Phoenix lied to them about the guns found at the crime scene in an attempt to hide the weapons' connection to the ATF's failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.

Terry was killed in December 2010, allegedly by Mexican bandits carrying at least two AK-47 semiautomatic rifles that had been purchased in Arizona as part of Fast and Furious. The operation was intended to catch drug lords using illegal weapons, but the ATF immediately lost track of 1,700 firearms.

The Terry family alleged that then-U.S. Atty. Dennis K. Burke told them last March that the two weapons came from a store in Texas and were not part of Fast and Furious.

The family made their allegations in a "notice of claim" stating that they intend to sue the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Justice Department for $25 million. They called the gun-tracking operation "abominable, reckless, nonsensical."...