Standing With Police And Virginia Tech Families, Gov. Kaine Vows To Close Gun Show Loophole

Almost everyone agrees that we should make it harder for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons.

As I said in my last blog, we should be willing to put up with a little "red tape" if it helps us avoid more "yellow tape" at crime scenes.

Most Americans believe this, and by wide margins [pdf].

We see this principle in action today in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Gov. Timothy Kaine is standing with the survivors and surviving families of the Virginia Tech massacre, as well as leading members of the law enforcement community, to demand stronger gun laws in that state.

First, in the aftermath of the shootings at Virginia Tech, the Governor ordered more records of the dangerously mentally ill into the Brady background check system. In doing so, Gov. Kaine closed the loophole that allowed the killer to get his guns from two gun stores.

This week, Gov. Kaine vowed to close another loophole, calling for background checks even from so-called "private-sellers" at gun shows. What does that mean? Today, if a background check blocks a "prohibited purchaser" from buying guns from a licensed dealer, that person can go find a "private seller" at a gun show who can sell him a gun with no questions asked.

[See an example of this practice at a recent gun show in Kentucky. An investigative reporter went to a show and found a "private seller" willing to sell him an SKS and an AK-47. The seller says to the reporter, on hidden camera: "No background check, no paperwork. If you see a gun here you like, pay me for it and take it with you."]

That's wrong. Gun shows should not be a haven for criminal gun buyers who want to evade background checks. Letting felons and other prohibited purchasers get away with legally buying guns is at odds with common sense, and recklessly puts lives at risk.

The naysayers argue that Virginia gun shows will close because of background checks, but the facts show otherwise. Gun shows continue to thrive where the gun show loophole is closed, because running background checks doesn't deter legal gun buyers. They deter illegal ones.

Law-abiding gun buyers and sellers have nothing to fear from background checks. Only criminals and reckless dealers do.

All the same, I have read reports that some Virginia Delegates plan to spurn the Virginia Tech families, ignore the evidence, and stubbornly refuse to close the gun show loophole.

Soon those Delegates will meet Virginia Tech parents like Joe Samaha and Lt. Col. Peter Read. Each of these men lost a daughter in the French class inside Norris Hall on April 16, 2007.

I wonder, do those Delegates have the guts to look Mr. Samaha and Col. Read in the eye and tell them that someone else's daughter may have to die because a few gun buyers are afraid of getting their backgrounds checked at a gun show?

I can't imagine such a scene, but we're about to find out in this session of the Virginia legislature.

The Commonwealth of Virginia is lucky have Gov. Kaine stand alongside the police and the Virginia Tech families in their fight to require background checks for all gun show sales.

The Brady Campaign is proud to stand with them.

(Note to readers: This entry, along with past entries, has been co-posted on bradycampaign.org/blog and the Huffington Post.)