Weapons & Guns

8:15 AM PT -- Meek's attorney Joe Tacopina tells TMZ, “We have never seen such vindictiveness and disregard for the law at this level. Judge Brinkley will not be able to hide her conduct from the scrutiny of appellate courts, the justice system overall and the common sense and decency of the people of Pennsylvania and the United States. We will see to it.

Meek Mill's controversial judge says he's got awful timing -- and that's just one of the many reasons she's not granting him a bail hearing.

Judge Genece Brinkley filed docs explaining why she rejected his motion to get a hearing, and be released from prison on bail. First, she's being a stickler on deadlines ... saying Meek's request needed to be filed a year after his original 2009 sentence became final. Of course, he didn't file until 2018, but we're confident Meek's team would say they didn't know about the police corruption scandal until this year.

As we reported, Meek hung much of his bail request on the credibility of Officer Graham -- the Philly cop at the center of the city's sweeping police corruption case.

Judge Brinkley says, in docs obtained by TMZ, the Philly article exposing the scandal is based on old police documents that were readily available to Meek's attorneys. She's basically saying ... the information was there, why didn't Meek's team expose the corrupt cops? In fact, Brinkley says the article isn't even admissible as evidence, and there's precedent for that in Pennsylvania.

She also says Meek has repeatedly admitted his guilt, in court, to the gun and drug charges he originally faced.

Judge Brinkley thinks there's nothing special about Meek's situation. She says post-sentencing bail should only be granted in "exceptional cases for compelling reasons." Bottom line for the judge ... even if Graham's a dirty cop, it doesn't make this an exceptional case.

David Hogg might not be good enough for the University of California -- despite his activism -- but he's now got something in his back pocket ... a possible full ride in New Mexico!

TMZ has obtained an acceptance letter from the Dean of the Honors College at New Mexico State University. Dr. Miriam S. Chaiken was pleased to inform Hogg he was welcome at the campus ... and so are all the other Parkland student leaders.

In the letter, Chaiken says she's been inspired by the work David and his fellow students were doing in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High shootings ... taking to the streets and demanding new gun control laws.

She writes, "Please tell David, Emma (Gonzalez), and any other of your student leaders, that they are welcome at the William Conroy Honors College and at New Mexico State University." Chaiken goes on ... "I can assure them that they will be admitted to our university, and I will personally make it my commitment to raise as much funding as I can to support them with scholarships."

Sounds like a full ride for Hogg and co. Then again, the specifics are a little vague.

Safaree Samuels broke down into tears during a radio interview in New York, where he says he'd just been robbed at gunpoint hours prior.

The "Love & Hip Hop" star made the shocking revelation Monday while sitting for an interview with Power 105.1's Angie Martinez. She introduces him as her guest, but then asks what's wrong ... seeing that he's visibly upset. Safaree then says he'd been robbed.

Safaree says he got ran up on by two guys with two guns a couple hours before the show, and that they had him face down with a gun at his head. He says they took "everything."

Damian Lillard's half brother is hospitalized after being shot multiple times in Oregon last night ... and cops believe he was the victim of a targeted attack.

Cops in Clackamas County say Jahrell Lillard, 20, was gunned down by 2 men in a parking lot around 9 PM last night. According to witnesses, 5 to 10 shots were fired. Officials believe JL was the victim of a targeted attack.

After he was hit, Lillard was able to escape ... and run into a Macy's Home Store before police say he collapsed just inside the store entrance.

The shooters fled the scene.

Lillard was transported to a local hospital. His condition is unknown.

6:19 AM PT -- We've learned the father of the student who made the threat later met with police and turned over a black handgun, a magazine, 6 bullets and an airsoft pistol.

A student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School made threats with a gun and ammunition against another student, and parents want to know if more danger lurks on campus ... yet the school has gone radio silent.

A student at the school posted these ominous pics with a clear target ... a fellow student he accused of stealing his Gucci sandals. The student in question posted this ominous warning, "Catch me out here n****," along with, "Anyone know josh at Stoneman Douglas he's light skin where's Gucci glasses and jeans that look like a 4 year old drew on em hmu."

Cops came to the school last week and arrested the student for making criminal threats. He told cops the bullets were his dad's and the gun was real ... it was a BB gun. And there's this ... according to the police report, his Fortnite gamer tag name is NickCruz ... the same name as the notorious shooter.

The parent of the student who was targeted went to the school to find out if the student who was arrested would be back on campus. According to the parent's lawyer, Bradford Cohen, the school refuses to give an answer, which has freaked out a number of students and parents.

Cohen tells TMZ this is not about suing the school ... it's purely about safety.

David Hogg is basically telling Fox News host Laura Ingraham to take her apology and shove it ... or, at the very least, make it more sincere.

The Parkland, FL teen just fired back at Ingraham saying she's sorry for calling Hogg a whiner over his college rejections. Hogg thinks her mea culpa was done merely "to save your advertisers" ... and it's not good enough for him.

Hogg says, "I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight."

The father of a Marjory Stoneman Douglas student who was killed was first to blast Ingraham for her apology, and David co-signed.

Larry King has an interesting tidbit for why the Second Amendment should be repealed -- and it's got to do with what he says is the real reason it was created ... to fight off slaves.

We got the ex-talk show host Wednesday at E. Baldi in Bev Hills, where we asked what he thought of former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens' NYT op-ed calling for the amendment giving Americans the right to bear arms to be repealed.

Larry says he's completely on board, adding that the antiquated provision needs to be rewritten due to unclear language ... and also, because it's "real" purpose is moot now.

He backs a widely discussed theory that the Second Amendment was pushed for by Southern senators who simply wanted to fend off potential slave uprisings. How about that?

Law enforcement at Coachella is bracing for the possibility of a Vegas-like massacre, and it's taking radical steps to make sure it thwarts any plot and protects concertgoers.

If, God forbid, something does happen, first responders will be ready with tourniquets and other medical equipment to prevent massive blood loss.

There will also be intensive surveillance, especially with drones that will blanket the festival grounds ... eyeing people and packages that look ominous. Although law enforcement tells TMZ there are no known threats, it is out of an abundance of caution.

Cops and security are taking training courses on identifying items that are out of place ... in particular they will learn the lay of the land -- where items such as trash cans are placed -- and if a new one suddenly appears, cops will take appropriate steps to immediately investigate.

There will also be tried-and-true forms of security, such as metal detectors and pat-downs. And the mantra of the festival is what has become the mantra everywhere ... "See something, say something."

Coachella takes place over the span of two weekends next month and features artists like The Weeknd, Beyonce, Eminem, Cardi B, Migos, SZA and Kygo.

Ivanka Trump's brother-in-law broke ranks in a big way by participating in Saturday's March for Our Lives rally.

Joshua Kushner -- Jared Kushner's younger brother -- showed up to the rally Saturday at the nation's capitol and joined the hundreds of thousands advocating for gun control. There was a noticeable -- and predictable -- White House absence at the rally.

But, Joshua didn't simply just take part in the march. He reportedly donated $50k to the rally earlier this month. Joshua, who attended the rally with his longtime gf, Karlie Kloss -- posted on Instagram and simply captioned it with, #marchforourlives.

Rick Santorum says students who were protesting for gun control this weekend should look inward to help to solve mass shootings ... by learning CPR instead of taking to the streets.

You heard right. Santorum -- a former Republican U.S. senator -- gave his controversial hot take Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," where he actually said student survivors should stop asking law makers to solve the gun crisis, and simply help themselves ... literally.

He suggested students oughta learn how to properly respond to real-life threats in the moment rather than doing a big song and dance for new gun laws, like the March for Our Lives rally Saturday. He also criticized Hollywood elites who helped organize the event.

Santorum was immediately met with pushback from the host running the panel, but we're not even sure if she understood exactly what he'd just said. We hardly believe it ourselves.

Richard Castaldo -- who was shot 8 times in the 1999 Columbine massacre -- is finally optimistic about serious gun control in America ... because he believes in the new generation.

We got Richard at the March for Our Lives rally in L.A. Saturday, and he tells us he's more hopeful than ever before about reform. He says not a whole lot's changed with gun laws in the past 19 years, but he gives credit to the young students pushing hard for it ... and he's certain it's coming soon.

So why so hopeful now? Richard tells us the kids these days don't take bulls**t for an answer ... even more than people his age. He says there's still a lot to be done, but he knows the students won't stop fighting ... and he's not going to either.

Castaldo was the second victim to be hit by bullets at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, and was left paralyzed.

DJ Paul has a very dark and scary vision of our future, which is why he says we need guns ... including assault rifles.

We got the Memphis rapper at LAX Saturday and asked him about gun control, the hot-button issue of the day with March for Our Lives events happening all over the country. He says the best approach is a slogan he saw on a college dorm room sticker ... which is anti-idiot, not anti-gun.

DJ Paul tells us we do need to do a better job keeping guns out of the wrong hands, but banning them is a bad idea ... because he thinks we're heading toward imminent war.

He's basing this off an episode of "20/20" he saw 11 years ago in which a man predicted America would be too poor to afford homeland security in 20 years. That means we're 9 years away from dystopia ... and the Three 6 Mafia founder thinks we'll need all the guns we can get for protection.

Parkland students led the rally at March for Our Lives, but countless celebrities showed up in full force on both coasts to voice their support of the mission to end gun violence.

We got stars like Amy Schumer, Charlie Puth, Kendall Jenner, Kaia Gerber, Yara Shahidi, Jason Sudeikis, Olivia Wilde, Questlove and many more in downtown L.A. Saturday. Amy gave us a short and sweet message after finishing her speech at the event ... and Charlie's was on his t-shirt.

Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg and George Clooney snapped a pic with the Parkland students and other speakers at the event in D.C. As we reported ... Clooney and Scooter Braun were secretly major forces behind the MFOL campaign.

Speaking of D.C., celebs joined the roughly 800,000 or more people who packed the park and streets there ... and we spotted Chelsea Handler, Jennifer Hudson, Cher, Miley Cyrus, Andra Day and politician Gabby Giffords -- who survived a mass shooting in January 2011.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West also made the trip there with their daughter North, along with performers like Common, Vic Mensa and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Yolanda Renee King -- granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King -- took the stage at March for Our Lives ... and gave a rousing speech her granddad would be proud of.

The 9-year-old walked out with Parkland student Jaclyn Corin, and gave her own version of MLK's famous "I Have a Dream" speech ... saying her dream is that when it comes to guns in our country -- "Enough is enough!"

Yolanda then led the thousands in attendance in a stirring chant in unison, not once, not twice -- but 3 times ... and the crowd ate it up.

Hundreds of thousands of kids and adults swarmed Washington D.C., demanding gun control in the wake of the Parkland massacre ... and Emma Gonzalez just closed it off by standing silent on stage for 6 minutes and 20 seconds -- the time it took the Florida shooter to kill 17 people at her school.

Parkland, FL students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are leading the charge at the March for Our Lives rally, and they're being joined by an estimated half-a-mil others in D.C. as well as millions more in rallies across the country ... sending a message to ban assault rifles along with other sensible gun control measures.

Event organizers got a permit for 500,000 people for the D.C. rally, but the crowd size was reportedly closer to a whopping 800,000.

Some big musical acts -- including Miley Cyrus, Common, Demi Lovato, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson -- will perform at the D.C. rally, but only students will deliver messages. We're told all of the students have some connection to gun violence.

The high schoolers will also perform their original song "Shine," written in the wake of the Parkland tragedy.

Paul McCartney showed up this morning to the march in N.Y.C. wearing an anti-gun t-shirt not far from where John Lennon was shot in 1980.

In L.A. ... celebs like Amy Schumer, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Puth and Connie Britton will join in the downtown protest. All in all, there are 833 marches planned worldwide Saturday ... from the U.S. to the UK, from India to Japan.

The New England Patriots went above and beyond for the Parkland, FL students ... sending the team jet to fly them to D.C. for this weekend's March for Our Lives.

Owner Robert Kraft reportedly made the gesture at the request of AZ Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Marjory Stoneman Douglas students got a taste of the Tom Brady life ... along with their parents and some of their teachers. Theater teacher Melody Herzfeld, in the middle of this pic, huddled in a closet with her students on Feb. 14 when the shooting began.

Everyone seemed grateful for the Patriots' charitable move ... posting pics from the tarmac and onboard the jet.