Rapper Lil Wayne was in a New York City courtroom on Monday (September 8th) morning, after performing at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles the previous (September 7th) night. He also won the best hip hop video award for his hit, "Lollipop," during the show.

Lil Wayne was in court to answer charges of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an arrest in July of 2007 in New York City. Officers searched his tour van and discovered a handgun in a Louis Vuitton bag.

On Monday, his legal team was on the offensive at a pretrial hearing to see if the police search of the tour bus was legal. Lil Wayne's lawyer, Stacy Richman, argued that the search was illegal. Police Officer Diane Hornung testified that she boarded the tour bus after smelling marijuana and seeing smoke wafting from the open door. She then allegedly saw Lil Wayne seated on a bed and attempting to hide a bag. In the bag, Hornung allegedly found the unlicensed weapon.

According to the officer Lil Wayne then allegedly said, "I have a permit for that gun in Florida." He was unable to produce the permit, which wasn't valid in the state of New York anyway. His comments do link him to the weapon and could possibly be used against him. He was also forced to give up a DNA sample in hopes of linking him to the weapon.

If found guilty, Lil Wayne could face up to three-and-a-half years behind bars.

In addition to the weapons charges, Lil Wayne has a history with handguns which includes accidentally shooting himself. His mentor and father figure, Baby, explained: "I've been watching him do it from since a shorty. You know, even after he shot himself. You know, he shot himself reading off the gun, so I said when God ain't take him, I just knew, you know, what he was built for, and he was just built for this rap s**t and that's what he all about."

Maybe he shouldnt be playing with guns anymore?