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More than a half dozen Marines have been killed in a training exercise near Reno.

The Marine Corps says seven Marines were killed during live fire training at Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada. It's part of the Joint Munitions Command. There is ammunition stored and disposed of there but the Marines say the incident happened during a mortar firing exercise late Monday night.

Besides the seven Marines killed several others with the 2nd Marine Division were injured. The cause is under investigation.

O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — The city council in a St. Louis area town is considering a bill that would declare any federal, state or local laws prohibiting guns to be in violation of the U.S. and Missouri constitutions, rendering them invalid in the town.

The measure has been proposed in O'Fallon. The Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis reports it could be subject of a vote on March 28.

Co-sponsors Jim Pepper and John Haman Jr. say the bill would not invalidate existing laws but protect the rights of residents to bear arms. But Councilman Bob Howell questioned the need for the bill and urged major revisions. Howell says that while he supports protecting gun rights, he believes the bill puts the city in the position of passing an unconstitutional law.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge has struck down a Missouri health insurance law because it conflicts with a federal mandate for insurers to cover birth control at no additional cost to women.

U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig cited a provision in the U.S. Constitution declaring that federal laws take precedence over contradictory state laws. Missouri's Republican-led Legislature overrode the veto of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon last September to enact a law that appeared to be the first in the nation to directly rebut the Obama administration's contraception policy. The Missouri law required insurers to issue policies without contraception coverage if individuals or employers objected because of religious or moral beliefs.

Fleissig had issued a temporary restraining order against Missouri's law last December.