Virginia House Panel Rejects Gun Show Bill
posted 4:32 pm Fri January 18, 2008 - RICHMOND, Va.
Thirty-two people were killed at Virginia Tech on April 16 by a mentally disturbed student who committed suicide as police closed in.
Only a few relatives of those killed and wounded were able to attend the meeting because they had less than 24 hours notice. The committee refused to delay a vote until more family members could be there.
"Please don't say these innocent lives were lost," said Lori Haas of Richmond, whose daughter Emily was shot twice in the head but survived. "They weren't lost - they were killed by a sick person who should not have had that gun."
Gun-rights advocates who opposed the bill noted that the gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, did not buy his weapon at a gun show. He had been ruled a danger to himself during a court commitment hearing in 2005 and was ordered to receive outpatient mental health care - but he never received the treatment.
Despite the setback, the gun show loophole issue isn't dead. Similar legislation is pending in a Senate committee and supporters plan a lobbying blitz and vigil in remembrance of the Virginia Tech victims Monday on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
"We're not going to give up," Andrew Goddard, whose son Colin was wounded in the shootings, told reporters after the committee meeting. "We're going to be energized by this."
Even if the Senate votes to close the loophole, the bill's next stop would be the same House committee that moved swiftly to reject the House version before supporters of the legislation could marshal their forces.
Latest Comment on Virginia House Panel Rejects Gun Show Bill
BWS1868
12:20 am on 01/19/08
There is no state requirement that a criminal background check be done on people buying guns at gun shows if they are sold by "private" individuals or gun "collectors." Gun shows can operate on a "no questions asked, cash-and-carry" basis, making it easy for criminals and even juveniles to buy as many guns as they want at gun shows, including assault weapons. No records are required to be kept on gun show sales by private individuals or gun collectors, making it almost impossible for police to trace such weapons if they are used in a crime. The legislators really dropped the ball this time. They had the chance to close this loop hole to make VA safer and they failed us. I will remember this for the next election.
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