The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
An effort to close the so-called gun show loophole once again appears doomed in the 2009 General Assembly, but a senior member of the Virginia State Crime Commission said Tuesday that a less restrictive voluntary background check might get broad bipartisan support.
After hearing tearful pleas by survivors and family members of the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre, commission Chairman David Albo refused to allow a colleague's motion recommending legislation that would require mandatory criminal and mental-health background checks at gun shows.
"That's my ruling. I'm the boss," Albo said, to laughs, ending two hours of debate and testimony.
Gun rights advocates, several armed at the waist, turned out in about equal numbers to the gun-control activists and urged commission members not to fall for the "red herring" of the Tech tragedy. The shooter, who killed 32 people and wounded 17 more April 16, 2007, before killing himself, did not buy his firearms at a gun show.
Albo, a Republican legislator from Springfield, assured those in the room that he would take up the issue again at the commission's next meeting, just before the January start of the General Assembly.
Vice Chairman and state Sen. Kenneth Stolle said during a break that the commission would probably approve a strict background-check requirement at gun shows - something he does not support - but to survive the recommendation would need majority support from members of both parties on the commission.
"That's not going to happen," said Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.
Albo and Stolle both floated the idea of having a state trooper stationed at each gun show with a computer available to conduct voluntary background checks for a gun purchases. A State Police representative said that could be done if it's funded.
"That may pass," Stolle said.
Virginia is one of 35 states that do not require criminal and mental-health background checks for firearms purchases at gun shows. However, federally licensed firearms dealers are free to conduct background checks at gun shows and they often do, the gun-rights advocates said.
Federal law mandates that those same dealers conduct background checks for all firearms sales at their stores.
At Tuesday's meeting, the Tech survivors and family members lined the front rows of the commission meeting room.
"Are you really willing to take the chance that the next mass killing might come from someone who buys a gun at a gun show?" asked Lori Haas of Richmond, whose daughter Emily was wounded in the attack.
Lily Habtu, who was shot in the face at Tech, described through tears her injuries and recovery. When Habtu and her family moved here from Africa to escape war, she said, they never envisioned becoming victims of the same kind violence they saw in their homeland.
"So where is the freedom to go to school without it being your last lesson?" she asked.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, called the Tech argument a "red herring."
"Nothing that happened at Virginia Tech had anything to do with gun shows," he said.
Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com
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LinwoodK
Well Linwoodk,since you asked..John Lott's view of More Guns, Less Crime. The stastics you produce from the DOJ are from an organization who would love to disarm the public and who I believe are biased against the public owning guns anyway. Law enforcement doesn't want people to protect themselves, they want to be the ones to do it, and if they are too late, then tough cheese. I don't believe any fact or stastic that comes from government institutions. But it goes back to your point of view.
Liberal Journalism, end
... from being properly reported and recorded in the database, so that when he attempted to purchase a firearm, the background check would have shown him as ineligible due to his mental health problems. That "loop-hole", rightfully so, was corrected by last years General Assembly. Spinning nonsense about a gun show "loop-hole" is a poor attempt at demonizing gun shows, guns and gun owners. I understand it from the liberal gun control crowd, but a journalist should have the standards of integrity to at least know the basics of the subject he is reporting on.
Liberal Journalism
I'm sure someone has already pointed this out, but I don't have time to read all the posts here. This is another example of liberal journalists spinning and distorting facts to fit their agenda. Learn the law before you attempt to report on it. Licensed Federal Firearms dealers are REQUIRED in ALL cases to conduct a background check before selling a firearm to anyone at any time, whether the sale is in a gun shop, at a gun show, or at the dealers home. This so-called gun show loop-hole is a blatant attempt by the gun control liberals to sell their fear tactics. The only "loop-hole" is the fact that private citizens do not have to perform a background check to sell a firearm. The "gun show" part comes in because sometimes private citizens choose to sell a firearm at a gun show. The problem with requiring private citizens to conduct background checks is, private citizens cannot access the crime database to conduct the check. Private citizens don't have the required forms to document the sale and maintain records for the BATF to check and inspect. The only "loop-hole" that allowed the VA Tech tragedy is the insane demands for privacy that prevented the shooter's mental health issues f
Garbage in, garbage out: Your legislature at work.
Okay, I'm tired of the arguments, and the endless stream of "facts" supporting both sides.
Liberals, grow a pair, and try to do what it is you really want. Stop playing around. You have control of congress and the white house. introduce legislation, on Jan 21, 2009, to make it a felony to own, possess, or otherwise control any firearm of any kind.
Watch what happens when you do. There will be an immediate civil war, between gun owners and gun control advocates. Want to take a guess at who will win?
Limited gun-show measure could pass, legislator says
"Federally licensed firearms dealers are free to conduct background
checks at gun shows and they often do.' Actually FFLs are required to conduct a criminal records check whenever and wherever they transfer any firearms to another (other than another FFL). So if someone wants to purchase any firearm from any gun dealer - whether at their gun store, at a gun show, or at home - they must complete BATFE Form 4473 and clear the national instant check system (NICS).
Also, there is absolutely no relevance whatsoever for the Virginia Tech tragedy and gun shows. The domestic terrorist did not acquire the two firearms mised at a gun show but instead from two different gun dealers and cleared NICS both times. As usual, the gun control crowd is simply trying to exploit a tragedy to push their anti-gun agenda -- and both Virginia Tech and September 11 are good examples of this shamelessness.
Ignorance
Speaking of ignorance, Chris33 offers the following gem:
"Japan has a low crime rate and very few guns."
First, does Japan have a low crime rate BECAUSE there are few civilian-owned guns? You are falling prey to the fallacy known as "post hoc, ergo propter hoc." In other words, correlation does not prove or even indicate causation. Vermont has a very low crime rate, yet gun ownership is very high there and anyone who may legally own a gun can carry it, with no permit at all - even concealed. Yet D.C., where hand guns still are effectively virtually banned, has consistently had one of the highest crime rates in the country - including near-daily shooting deaths. And it has been that way ever since it instituted the ban over 30 years ago.
More tears. Tears have been
More tears. Tears have been proven to influence the minds and decisions of liberals, who will drop all convictions, principles, even their respect for laws and founding documents, to make themselves feel better.
re: WRONG!
paramedic70002 wrote:
>>>Sir, you are either ignorant, a very poor reporter, or an outright liar.<<<
He's a leftist anti gun advocate, which puts him in all three categories.
I'd still like someone to explain what the "loophole" is.
WRONG!
"Virginia is one of 35 states that do not require criminal and mental-health background checks for firearms purchases at gun shows. However, federally licensed firearms dealers are free to conduct background checks at gun shows and they often do, the gun-rights advocates said.
---
Federal law mandates that those same dealers conduct background checks for all firearms sales at their stores."---
Mr. McGlone, I challenge you to cite the federal law that frees FFL dealers from doing background checks at gun shows. Sir, you are either ignorant, a very poor reporter, or an outright liar.
Gun shows are NOT the problem
Gun prices are too high at gun shows. A more reasonable price can be found at Mom and Pop gun shops, even though you have to go through the background check etc. If I wanted a cheap gun, an untraceable gun, or a disposable gun, I could go to any city park on Friday or Saturday night and buy one from the trunk of a lowrider. Criminals know about the park and so do the Police. We don't need more laws cluttering up the legal system. We have over 20,000 Federal laws on the books concerning the possession of firearms by private citizens and most were written since the Kennedy assasination. Who knows how many State and Local gun laws there are? The shooter at Virginia Tech was a known mental defective. He was ignored by the University Police and the Blackburg Police for previous non-gun violations. He may have gotten his weapon legally, but the dealer was not through. There's a law covering that already. So, to my point: Judges, enforce the law. Police Departments, enforce the law. Gun Dealers, obey the law.
Red herring? Indeed, I think so.