Weapons

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world. If any of the nation's 112 million citizens want to buy firearms, there's only one store where they can do it legally. It's on a sprawling military base and run by the army.

That, however, hasn't stopped Mexicans from acquiring firearms. The country is awash in illegal guns, many of them assault weapons in the hands of merciless criminal gangs. President Felipe Calderon says authorities have seized more than 140,000 weapons since he came to office in late 2006. Many of them, Mexican officials assert, were purchased in the United States.

TREMONTON -- A 14-year-old was killed Monday while handling a miniature cannon at his Tremonton home.

The apparent accident occurred around 7:30 a.m., said Tremonton Police Chief David Nance. The boy was identified as Robby Ostberg.

Ostberg was in the living room of the family home playing video games with his 16-year-old brother and handling the miniature cannon when it went off, Nance said.

He was struck in the face and pronounced dead at the scene. Ostberg's father was also in the house at the time.

SAN DIEGO — U.S. troops are increasingly using an easy-to-get herbal mix called “spice,” which mimics a marijuana high, is hard to detect and can bring on hallucinations that last for days.

FARMINGTON -- A man who police say threatened a couple with a knife after breaking into their car has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

OGDEN -- Two men were arrested Wednesday morning after police say they held three people at knife point and stole their possessions.

Tracy Lee Atkinson, 35, and Jay Chad Kearsley, 30, waited outside a home on the 1000 block of 16th Street until about 1:10 a.m. when they saw a woman outside. Armed with knives, they grabbed her and forced her inside the house, said Police Lt. Tony Fox.

Montana authorities on Tuesday scaled down a search for a militia member accused of firing on two sheriff’s deputies, saying the practiced survivalist and ex-convict could easily have traveled dozens of miles through the state’s jagged western mountains.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Salt Lake City International Airport officials are seeing more firearms and other weapons at security checkpoints.

Airport officials reminded people Wednesday that firearms and other weapons are not permitted past the security checkpoints, said Barbara Gann, Salt Lake City Department of Airports spokeswoman.