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No appeal of Drew Peterson gun charge dismissal

The Will County state's attorney has decided against appealing a judicial ruling dismissing an illegal gun charge against former Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson.

Judge Richard Schoenstedt last month ruled prosecutors didn't show that Peterson couldn't own the weapon seized in November 2007.

Peterson was charged with possession of an illegal firearm after authorities learned he gave a short-barreled rifle to his son for safe keeping.

Noting Peterson is jailed in lieu of $20 million bail, state's attorney spokesman Charles Pelkie says prosecutors don't want to risk an appeals court decision "that would bind the entire state."

Peterson is awaiting trial in the 2004 death of his third wife Kathleen Savio. He is also a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.

Peterson has denied wrongdoing.