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June 30, 2011: California Gov. Jerry Brown signs the state budget.APSACRAMENTO, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday that he has signed legislation expanding the ability of state agents to seize firearms from nearly 20,000 Californians who are not allowed to have them.They collectively own more than 39,000 handguns and 1,670 assault weapons but are prohibited from owning firearms because they have been convicted of crimes, ruled mentally unstable or are subject to domestic violence restraining orders.The bill authorizes $24 million for the state Department of Justice's Armed and Prohibited Persons program. The money will go to hire more agents to confiscate the weapons and reduce the backlog over the next three years.The program, which is unique to California, cross-checks five databases to find people who bought weapons they are no longer legally allowed to own.SB140 by Senator Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, authorizes $24 million to hire more agents to confiscate the weapons and reduce the backlog over the next three years.The bill is the first of numerous firearms bills introduced by lawmakers in response to recent mass shootings in Connecticut and Colorado. The Democratic governor signed the bill without comment."California is leading the nation in a common-sense effort to protect public safety," Attorney General Kamala Harris, who oversees the state Department of Justice, said in a statement.U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, a Democrat f An Idaho man charged with attempting to assassinate President Obama by shooting at the White House practiced with his weapon for six months and may have been upset about the country's marijuana policy, prosecutors said in a newly filed court document.Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez is currently awaiting trial for the 2011 shooting, which didn't injure anyone but left more than five bullet marks on the executive mansion. Prosecutors filed a 14-page court document Tuesday that adds additional detail about Ortega-Hernandez, who allegedly shot at the White House the night of Nov. 11 while the president and first lady were away.Ortega-Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to the attempted assassination charge and to other charges.In the document, prosecutors said Ortega-Hernandez "expressed anger towards the government regarding the continued criminalization of marijuana," which they said he acknowledged smoking and claimed makes people more intelligent.Prosecutors said they will offer evidence to show that Ortega-Hernandez's motive in shooting at the White House "was to punish and kill the president, who he believed was the head of a government that was oppressing its citizens in various ways, such as by continuing to criminalize the use of marijuana."Prosecutors also reiterated previously disclosed information that Ortega-Hernandez repeatedly expressed contempt for Obama, whom he called the antichrist.Ortega-Hernandez practiced firing the assault r