Posted on 11/29/2007 1:31:04 PM PST by neverdem
RICHMOND
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine called Tuesday for new restrictions on firearm sales at gun shows but stopped short of declaring passage of the legislation as a high priority for the 2008 General Assembly session.
Under current law, background checks on buyers are not required by unlicensed dealers who privately sell and trade firearms at the shows.
Kaine endorsed closing the loophole, saying it provides an opening for felons and mentally ill people to buy weapons they are otherwise forbidden to purchase.
"You either want felons to have guns or you don't,"
Kaine said on a morning radio show. "You want people who are mentally adjudicated to be dangerous to have guns or you don't. If you don't want them to, then you ought to close that gun show loophole."
In the wake of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech, the General Assembly this winter is expected to vigorously debate gun control. Seung-Hui Cho, an emotionally troubled Tech
senior, fatally shot 32 students and professors before killing himself.
In August, an eight-member task force appointed by Kaine to investigate the killings recommended in its final report that the gun show loophole be closed.
Former state police Superintendent Gerald Massengill, whom Kaine appointed to head the task force, has been calling for the end of the loophole in a series of speeches and interviews. Massengill has said the only exemption to background checks should be for gun sales and trades among family members.
Latest Videos
The DOT: Stuntman flips off snowmobile, Girl-fight caught on tape
Inside Ghent's new Gold's Gym
Game Watch: Division 6 at Oscar Smith
Tallest building in Virginia welcomes first guests
Raw Video: Girls Fight in Florida Store
Tree Sparkles at Rockefeller Center
First Person: Snowmobile Stunt Goes Splat
See the complete Pilot, exactly as in print - View stories, photos and ads - E-mail clippings - Print copies Log in or learn more
Kaine criticized the gun show exemption when he ran for governor in 2005 and in the days after the Tech shooting. He repeated his concern Tuesday in response to a listener's question during the governor's monthly call-in show on WTOP radio in Washington.
Later in the day, Gordon Hickey, Kaine's press secretary, said the governor has not decided whether he will spend political capital to expand background checks.
"Just because he said it doesn't make it the highest priority," Hickey said. "He hasn't gotten anywhere near making that kind of decision yet."
The legislation will travel an uphill road in the General
Assembly. Bills to close the gun show loophole have been defeated three years in a row in the state Senate. The House of Delegates, which has not taken up the measure recently, strongly backs gun rights.
Gun advocates note that Cho legally purchased his guns, even though he was held overnight in a mental hospital in 2005 and judged an "imminent danger" to himself. Because his hospitalization was brief, it was not reported to law enforcement officials and not detected on background checks when Cho bought firearms.
After the Tech shootings, Kaine issued more rigorous guidelines for reporting dangerous mental health problems to law enforcement officials.
House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said if the General Assembly "wants to make sure there's no repeat of Cho," it should focus on mental health reform, not gun control. "That's a much better long-term solution than taking away rights from law-abiding citizens," he said.
Warren Fiske, (804) 697-1565, warren.fiske@pilotonline.com
I hope the people of Virginia are enjoying this POS. Yesterday he had another liberal proclamation that made Fox. To think that they are going to elect a solid dim government in ‘08 is sickening.
LLS
In Alexandria City, we couldn't elect an African American Republican to the Council, by, like, 187 votes or something crazy like that. Don't blame me -- I vote at every election.
I used to say, at least Virginia is not Maryland, or not DC, but that may not be applicable anymore.
The Gilmore-Warner Senate race should be interesting....
They want to close the “loophole” that allows INDIVIDUALS to sell guns to each other.
The Virginia Tech teachers think they should be allowed to carry their weapons on campus, to stop nuts like Chou.
The constitution is on their side. Right to Keep and BEAR arms.
But still the public entity prohibits them from protecting themselves.
Under current law, background checks on buyers are not required by unlicensed dealers who privately sell and trade firearms at the shows.
That’s an oxymoron. All dealers are licensed. People who are unlicensed aren’t dealers.
The correct phase is “(unlicensed, if you must) private sellers.”
You got it. “Unlicensed Dealer” means guy who owns a gun and wants to sell it.
They want to institute checks for EVERY transfer of gun ownership.
There’s no such thing as an unlicenced dealer. How did this foll become Gov? Are most of the folks in VA dumber than he is?
LLS
“The Gilmore-Warner race should be interesting”
I hope you are right. My guess is that Gilmore gets 35 to 40 percent. He really lacks the ability to inspire anyone.
No it isn't. A deal is a deal with or without a license. You think drug dealers have a license?
Never trust a halfa== viginia cop.
You want people who are mentally adjudicated to be dangerous to be free to walk on the streets or you don't. If you don't want them to, then you ought to close that parole loophole.
Absolutely.
They're called Pharmacists ;-)
Was it actually? I thought that the judge believed Cho to be unstable, but did not legally rule that he posed a danger to others.
Yeah, but a background check will no longer indicate whether someone has actually been convicted of anything by due process of law, will it? Won't it also now flag lots of other people who have not received due process?
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good one! You got me!
Kaine is a failure as a Govnerd in so many ways. Maybe we can get Allen
to kick his ass to the curb. I'll be campaigning for anyone running against him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.