In brief: TSA says guns seized in 2014 break record

A Transportation Security Administration report released Friday showed that agents seized a record number of guns last year.

The TSA said it discovered 2,212 firearms in carry-on bags at 224 airports – about six a day. About 83 percent of the confiscated guns were loaded, the agency said. Last year’s number represented a 22 percent increase from 2013, when 1,813 firearms were discovered. The number of firearms seized at TSA checkpoints has risen nearly every year since 2005.

“In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items,” the TSA said in its blog post reviewing the data.

Of the top 10 airports reporting gun seizures, Dallas-Fort Worth led the pack with 120. Three of the top airports were in Texas, two in Houston. Florida also had three airports in the top 10.

TSA agents discovered not just small firearms, but a grenade and a loaded assault rifle with three loaded magazines. The agency also said more than 1,400 “firearm components, replica firearms, stun guns, and other similar dangerous objects were discovered” in carry-on luggage.

U.S. woman jailed for attempt to help ISIS

Denver – A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who tried to go to Syria to help Islamic State militants was sentenced to four years in prison Friday, even as she tearfully told a judge that she never wanted to hurt anyone and has disavowed jihad.

Shannon Conley told the judge she was misled while pursuing Islam and learned only after her arrest about atrocities committed by the extremists she was taught to respect.

“I am glad I have learned of their true identity here and not on the front lines,” Conley said. “I disavow these radical views I’ve come to know and I now believe in the true Islam in which peace is encouraged.”

But U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore said he doubted Conley’s views had changed, and she needs psychological help.

Conley was arrested in April as she boarded a plane she hoped would ultimately get her to Syria, where she wanted to marry a suitor she met online who told her he was fighting with the extremists. She told FBI agents she wanted to fight alongside him or use her skills as a certified nurse’s aide to help.

California court bans Boy Scouts as judges

San Francisco – California’s Supreme Court voted Friday to prohibit state judges from belonging to the Boy Scouts on grounds that the group discriminates against gays.

The court said its seven justices unanimously voted to heed a recommendation by its ethics advisory committee barring judges’ affiliation with the organization.

In 1996, the state Supreme Court banned judges from belonging to groups that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, but made an exception for nonprofit youth organizations.

The Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics in February recommended eliminating the exception to enhance public confidence in the judiciary.

The group allows the participation of openly gay boys but continues to prohibit gay and lesbian adults from serving as leaders.

The Boys Scouts of America couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.