| UNUSUAL ARREST MADE OVER HANDGUN SALE - Few arrests for illegal gun sales are made in the Mountain State, well-known for legal gun trafficking.
There are no state restrictions on gun-trafficking, such as a limit on the number of handguns that can be purchased at one time.
Gun traffickers can easily buy large quantities of handguns at gun stores or gun shows and resell them on the street to criminals or military groups abroad.
There is no state restriction on the sale or possession of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons like the AK47 and Uzi.
Assault weapons are as easy to buy as hunting rifles.
There has been no restriction on the sale or possession of rapid-fire ammunition magazines that can fire up to 100 bullets without reloading.
There is no background check at gun shows and no waiting period for gun sales.
Federal authorities still charged two men last week in WV with illegally selling a handgun.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says 57-year-old Terry Phillips and 50-year-old Robert P. Smith have been arrested.
They're charged with aiding and abetting the sale and delivery of a handgun to a nonresident of West Virginia.
The ATF has accused Smith and Phillips of a so-called "straw sale" at T and S Loans, a pawn shop in Elkins.
The agency says the pair sold a 38-caliber revolver to an undercover agent who said he was from Pennsylvania and allowed a second undercover agent from West Virginia to fill out a firearms transaction report.
The ATF says such purchases violate federal law and are punishable by up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
WOMAN KNIFED AND RAPED - State Police in Martinsburg have arrested two men in connection with the death of a woman who was forced to have sex before she was beaten, her throat slit and her body dumped in the woods.
The body of Tina Marie Starcher, 41, was found last Wednesday in woods near the Berkeley-Jefferson County line.
Authorities have charged Fred Dwayne Douty II, 28, of Martinsburg and Anthony Charles Juntilla, 37, of Hedgesville on one count each of first-degree murder.
The police report says Starcher's killer slit her throat in the bathtub, and poured cleaning liquid onto her mouth and pelvic area.
STAND-OFF TURNS DEADLY - A New Martinsville stand-off between an armed man and police ended in tragedy. Ray Allen Longwell Jr., 42, was due in court to face a charge of child molestation.
Longwell called police saying he wouldn't make his court date and intended to kill himself.
Police went to the scene, where Longwell shot himself in nearby woods.
BECKLEY ARMED HOLDUPS - Two holdups occurred on Beckley's Eisenhower Drive. One at Judy's Place and later at a Little General Store.
The robber used a semi-automatic handgun to steal an undisclosed amount of cash.
The suspect was described as a black male, five foot seven and approximately one-hundred thirty pounds.
He was wearing a dark ski mask and left on foot but was later seen getting into a dark colored older model car.
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