Gun Groups To Appeal Decision To Toss Ga. Lawsuit: AP reports that gun rights groups are appealing a ruling that dismissed a lawsuit seeking the right to carry guns in parts of the world's busiest airport. U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob tossed the lawsuit Friday, ruling that there was no evidence indicating that Georgia's new right to carry law would allow weapons into unsecured areas of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. State Rep. Tim Bearden, a Republican who co-sponsored the gun law, hopes to win on appeal.

Supreme Court Opens New Term: L.A. Times Staff Writer, David G. Savage, reports that the new term will feature cases on whether the government can forbid foul language on television, whether drug makers can be sued by injured patients, and whether environmentalists can protect whales off California from the Navy's sonar. On Monday, the justices will meet behind closed doors to sift through more than 2,000 appeal petitions that have piled up over the summer. They are expected to announce Tuesday that they will hear a handful of those cases. On major issues - among them abortion, race, religion, the death penalty, gun rights, gay rights and presidential power - the court regularly splits 5-4, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy casting the deciding vote.

New York Defends Handgun Database: Michael Hill, AP writer, reports that New York's seven-year-old database of handgun "fingerprints" has yet to lead to a criminal prosecution, questioning its effectiveness. However, the state police remain committed to the tool, saying that more time and a long-awaited link to a federal ballistics database could bring success. Gun advocates, who have opposed the database from the get-go as unworkable, claim the lack of results is evidence of the system's failure. The state police disagree. A spokesman, Sgt. Kern Swoboda, noted that the typical time between the legal purchase of a gun and the time it is used in a crime is seven to 10 years.

Fund For Death Defenses Remains Unchecked: According to an article from the Morris Daily Herald, a state fund that pays for death penalty cases shows a pattern of unchecked expenses and questionable fees billed by some lawyers and trial experts, according to a report published in Sunday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The report focused on the lack of audit and oversight of the Illinois Capital Litigation Trust Fund, budgeted at about $10 million each year. Among the newspaper's findings were that some defense professionals charge private sector rates for expenses like travel. The fund has dispersed more than $50 million since it was founded eight years ago.