Weapons & Guns

Dallas Mavericks point guard Raymond Felton knocked off 500 hours of community service to put an end to his odd gun case that seemed to start with a bitter divorce.

Felton pled guilty last year to a felony gun charge after his estranged wife turned in his gun to NYPD. The semi-automatic weapon had an illegal 20-round extended magazine, so ... he was screwed.

Felton's lawyer went into a Manhattan court Wednesday morning to show proof the ex-Knick completed his community service hours, and also paid a $5,000 fine.

Benzino dodged a year in prison for bringing his loaded gun to the airport -- and instead the judge is forcing him to go to school ... the easiest school ever, we're guessing.

The former “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” star pled no contest to putting his loaded 9mm through a TSA checkpoint in Atlanta. He says he took the wrong laptop bag.

Benzino was sentenced to one year of probation, a $500 fine, 700 hours community service, and a crash course in gun safety ... which he has 60 days to complete.

Sure, it'll take a while to tick off the 700 hours, but the gun safety class? Just remember this, Benzino ... DON'T TAKE LOADED GUNS TO THE AIRPORT -- and you should pass.

Rico Richie -- whose song "Poppin" is blowing up -- got busted by cops who weren't even looking for him ... they were investigating Young Thug and the Lil Wayne tour bus shooting.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the rapper got busted in Atlanta on Wednesday for selling weed, and possession of firearms. According to Richie's reps, the arrest went down in a recording studio ... which happens to be the same studio where Young Thug shot his "Halftime" music video.

As we've reported ... that music video is part of the indictment against the guy cops say shot up Wayne's bus.

Richie's peeps say the cops were investigating Thug, but instead found Richie with marijuana and 2 guns. Richie's camp claim the drugs and guns weren't his, but since he didn't want to snitch ... he "accepted responsibility."

Positive spin: Richie's an up and comer, and the Young Thug/Lil Wayne related arrest could give him street cred.

Reality: He has previous felonies, so he could be facing hard time in prison.

Funny case of wrong place, wrong time ... unless you're Richie.

Birdman and Young Thug are connected to a plot to kill Lil Wayne ... which went down the night Wayne's tour bus got shot up in Atlanta ... according to cops.

The explosive allegation comes in the indictment for Jimmy Carlton Winfrey -- the guy busted for firing at Wayne's bus back in April. According to the docs, moments after Winfrey shot up the bus in Atlanta ... he called a phone owned by Birdman.

Adding further suspicion -- after that call, Winfrey drove to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel ... where Wayne's entourage stopped after the shooting. Cops don't say it in the indictment, but the insinuation is Winfrey was told to go finish the job ... but as we reported, police had met Wayne's entourage at the hotel to investigate the shooting.

TMZ broke the story ... Winfrey has been Young Thug's tour manager. Cops also point out that Winfrey is seen brandishing an assault rifle in Thug's "Halftime" music video ... which includes lyrics threatening to shoot Wayne in the head.

Birdman and Thug have not been charged with any crime -- but the indictment makes it clear cops think they're closely tied to the shooter.

Justin Martin -- who appeared alongside Zac Efron in "High School Musical 3" -- was arrested Tuesday night ... after allegedly getting into a gun fight with police.

According to Boston PD ... officers on patrol heard gunfire, and when they arrived on scene .. they say Martin and another man were armed and running away. The cops started chasing, and Boston PD says Martin turned and pointed his gun without firing, but his cohort did open fire.

Officers fired back, and did not hit Martin ... but they managed to chase him down, and while arresting him, recovered a .22 caliber pistol.

A second armed male suspect was also busted when he approached cops and Martin.

Martin was booked for unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and carrying a loaded firearm -- and 2 counts of assault by means of a dangerous weapon.

Martin's mother tells us she will try to bail him out after his court appearance Wednesday morning.

12:15 PM PT -- Martin pled not guilty to all counts. Bail was set at $35,000.

Plies nearly got sprayed with a real shotgun on his music video set -- but lucky for him, a 911 operator convinced an armed passerby to let cops handle what he wrongly thought was a hostage situation.

We got the 911 call made by the guy who mistook Plies' rap music video shoot for an armed standoff between a "white boy" and a bunch of black guys "with dreadlocks" and guns.

You gotta hear the terrified caller yelling, "They gonna shoot this white boy!" ... right before offering to intervene with his own loaded shotgun!

Rick Ross finally has his day in court ... after sitting in a Georgia jail for 7 days.

Ross -- who's visibly tired -- didn't have the option of bailing out ... the judge has treated this as a no-bail case because the rapper faces kidnapping and aggravated assault charges over an altercation he had with a groundskeeper at his estate.

It appears Ross' lawyer is there to argue his client should be released on bail.

The alleged victim claims Ross pistol-whipped him, injuring his jaw and neck and chipping two teeth, and that the injuries were so bad, he's been forced to eat through a straw.

The judge hasn't ruled yet.

Plies and one of his friends took a white guy hostage ... at least that's what was reported to Florida cops, but it wasn't what it seemed.

Cops were called to the St. Cloud home of Mike Busey (Gary's nephew, aka the white guy) after a passerby saw what he thought was a hostage situation. Someone called 911, saying 2 black males with assault rifles were holding a white male hostage.

Deputies rolled up with sirens blazing, then discovered the guns were unloaded and the only thing the guys were shooting was a music video.

The scene had Plies picking up guns from Haitian gangsters with assault rifles.

Check out the video ... the crew gets a stern talkin'-to by the cops.

Tyga pissed off a Swiss club owner so much, the guy chased him outside and started a fist fight with the rapper and his entourage ... and Kylie Jenner had a front row seat.

Tyga was scheduled to play a show at Envogue Genève, a club in Geneva, Switzerland. According to our sources, Tyga was supposed to play for an hour ... but he showed up super late and only performed for about 10 minutes.

Tyga left the club around 4 AM and got in his car with Kylie. The enraged owner was hot on Tyga's heels, running out of the club, yelling for Tyga ... a fight then broke out.

At that point Tyga got out of the car to join in the fracas, but an eyewitness says someone in the owner's posse flashed a gun. That was apparently enough for Tyga to make a hasty retreat, leaving his bodyguards behind.

9:20 AM PT -- Ross was DENIED bail and will remain behind bars until his next court hearing, which is on July 1.

Rick Ross took a Glock 9MM pistol and then viciously pistol-whipped one of his workers so badly, he messed up his jaw and neck ... so claim the cops who arrested him.

As TMZ reported, Ross was arrested early Wednesday morning for kidnapping and aggravated assault. Now we know the details.

Ross got into an argument with his groundskeeper at the massive Georgia home he bought from Evander Holyfield, this according to legal docs. According to law enforcement, Ross forced the groundskeeper into the guesthouse bedroom at gunpoint and started grilling him.

Cops say when Ross didn't get the answers he wanted, he pistol-whipped the guy twice, messing up his jaw and neck and chipping 2 teeth. The groundskeeper was hurt badly enough that he couldn't use his jaw and is now on a liquid diet.

Some scumbag burglars just hit the home of a former Texas A&M football -- stealing several guns -- and he may have been targeted BECAUSE he's a contestant on "Big Brother."

As we previously reported, ex-Aggies defensive back Clay Honeycutt will be a houseguest this season -- and is already in sequester, cut off from the outside world, as the show requires.

But after he left this past weekend, burglars struck his home in College Station, TX ... stealing all sorts of Honeycutt's belongings ... this according to the Brazos County Sheriffs Office.

Among the items reported stolen:

-- A 70" TV
-- A black Kindle Fire
-- An iPad
-- An Apple laptop
-- Three handguns (a 9mm, a .22 and a .45)
-- A leather jewelry box

The estimated value of the stolen goods: $4,510.

We're told Honeycutt's family believes the jewelry box may have held a ring from his A&M playing days, but they aren't sure and they've been unable to contact him ... per the show's strict rules.

Family members tell us they believe the timing is no accident ... insisting the burglars waited until Clay left for the show to strike his home.

Three bullets to the hip ain't gonna keep YG from partying his ass off ... even though he's on crutches, and his shooter is still on the loose.

Sources close to YG tell TMZ, just 3 days after he was shot ... the young gangster hit up a Hollywood Hills rager at famous party spot, the PingTank mansion.

We broke the story -- YG was shot 3 times, and refused to cooperate with police working the case. We're told he was plenty social inside the party though.

YG's not-so hidden message to the shooter -- I'm number one?

The guy who shot YG may have unwittingly done it in front of an audience ... unfortunately for him, an audience of cops.

We've learned multiple cameras may have captured the violence early Friday morning outside a San Fernando Valley recording studio/apartment complex, when YG was shot 3 times in the hip. The shooter is still on the loose.

Our sources say the cameras appear to have been in position to capture the shooting. LAPD detectives have already requested the video, which they'll get within a day or 2.

What's more ... we're told there are video cameras in the studio where YG was recording just before the shooting. Our sources say a number of people were in the studio and some sort of fight erupted shortly before shots were fired.

As for YG ... he's on the mend.

Rapper YG was shot early Friday morning at an L.A. recording studio ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us, it happened at around 1:45 AM in Studio City. We're told someone shot YG 3 times in the hip.

Somehow the rapper was able to get in his car and someone from his group drove him to a nearby hospital.

Cops were called and found multiple shell casings and blood on the sidewalk. Police went to the hospital to interview YG but we are told he was "very uncooperative."

YG's rep says the injuries are not life threatening, and he's doing fine.

We're told the shooter is still on the loose.

Meek Mill's beef with a rival exploded into a pistol-whipping melee on the streets of Philly ... with people fleeing for their lives -- and the violence is crystal clear in this video.

Meek and his crew were shooting a music video Tuesday evening ... when Louie V Gutta and his homies showed up. Watch the video -- there's a little bit of jawing, a little bit of pushing, tensions rising, and then ... chaos.

A guy standing behind Louie V got CRACKED in the face with what looks like the butt of a handgun -- and then everyone scatters ... fearing a shootout was about to go down.

No shots were fired, but police were called to the scene. No one got arrested.

Right after the incident, Louie V claimed he wasn't involved but admitted he was there talking to Meek.

Taylor "Lil Bit" Wright is worried someone's going to break into her house before she heals from childbirth -- and that's why she keeps a loaded weapon handy ... even next to her newborn.

The ex "Party Down South" star came on TMZ Live to respond to the critics who've been blasting her about the pic of her handgun on a nightstand, right next to her one-month old and baby daddy, Dalton Elliott.

To say Lil Bit is a proud gun-toting mama would be a huge understatement. Check out this clip -- she explains she's still recovering from a c-section ... so she wants to be armed and ready. As she puts it ... "Someone breaks in, I'm killin' 'em."