Most Gun Control Policies Ineffective, Study Finds:  A report published earlier this month suggested that the policies proposed by gun control activists over the years are ineffective, concluding that "regulating firearms was less important than focusing on who possesses those firearms."  Stephen Gutowski of the Washington Free Beacon reports that the study, authored by David Kopel and published Dec. 1 by the Cato Institute, analyzed real-world examples of universal background checks, bans on high-capacity magazines, and  bans on assault weapons in the U.S. and internationally to determine their effectiveness, finding that improved access to mental health care "would likely have the biggest impact on preventing both mass shootings and everyday violent crime."  Kopel notes that approximately one-fifth of U.S. homicides are committed by individuals with severe mental illness, so rather than infringe on the constitutional rights of responsible, law-abiding firearms owners, the focus should be on thwarting dangerous individuals from legal access to guns.

CA Murderer to Face Death Penalty:  A California sex offender and convicted murderer, indicted last year for the murders of four women in Anaheim, will face the death penalty for his crimes, says the Orange County District Attorney's office.  Matt Coker of the OC Weekly reports that 46-year-old Steven Dean Gordon was indicted by a grand jury on Oct. 2, 2014 on four felony counts of special circumstances murder during the commission of a rape, kidnapping, lying in wait and multiple murders, and faces an additional four felony counts of forcible rape.  Gordon's co-defendant, 29-year-old Franc Cano, has been indicted on the same charges.  Gordon and Cano, who were both registered sex offenders under federal supervision through GSP anklets at the time of the murders, camped together in the back of a paint and body shop, where they would bring their victims to rape and kill them.  Pretrial hearings for the killers are scheduled to take place next month.

US Army's Bergdahl to Face Court-Martial:  The military charges against the U.S. Army sergeant and former Taliban prisoner in Afghanistan were referred on Monday for trial by general court-martial, according to the U.S. Army Forces Command.  Jon Herskovitz of Reuters reports that prosecutors announced that there is sufficient evidence against 29-year-old U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl to hold him for trial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, which were handed down earlier this year.  He faces a possible life sentence if convicted for misbehavior.  Bergdahl made headlines in 2014 when he was released by the Taliban following five years of captivity in exchange for five Taliban leaders.  Bergdahl is suspected of being a Taliban sympathizer, and U.S. military prosecutors believe he deliberately left his post, planning for it weeks in advance.  The date of the arraignment hearing will be announced later.

CA Chooses Not to Enforce Sex Offender Law:  The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is allowing 76% of the sex offenders released from state prison to live near parks and schools, in direct conflict with Jessica's Law, an initiative adopted by voters in 2006.  A New York Times story by AP writer Don Thompson reports that the Jessica's Law prohibited convicted sex offenders from living within 2000 feet of parks and schools.  A California Supreme Court decision last March (In re Taylor) lifted the residency restriction in San Diego County, finding it impossible to enforce, but declined to do so for the state's other 57 counties. Weeks after the decision the CDCR announced that it would only enforce the restriction for child molesters, but an investigation by Thompson found that CDCR's own numbers show that it is actually not being enforced for many child molesters.   CDCR spokesman Jeffery Callison told the reporter, "a parole agent cannot simply prevent a parolee from living near a school or park because the offender committed a crime against a child."  The CDCR answers directly to Governor Jerry Brown.