imported post
Including quotes from PVC:
http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D95MGKBO1.html
Va. commission deadlocks on 'gun-show loophole'
01/13/2009
By DENA POTTER / Associated Press
The state crime commission deadlocked Tuesday on whether to support a bill that would force unlicensed sellers to do background checks on people who buy firearms at gun shows, drawing criticism from the loved ones of those killed at Virginia Tech.
The 6-6 vote by the commission was largely symbolic and will not stop proponents from filing a bill to close the loophole in state law that allows private sellers at gun shows to avoid the background checks that commerical dealers are required to perform. It does mean that whatever bill is filed won't get the commission's seal of approval.
Similar bills have failed for at least the past five years, but supporters vowed to continue fighting for them.
Mike White, whose daughter Nicole died at Virginia Tech, said the indecision Tuesday reminded him of school officials' decision not to close campus after Seung-Hui Cho killed two students in a dormitory on April 16, 2007. Tech officials waited more than two hours to inform students of the shooting, and that e-mail came only minutes before Cho killed 30 others, including White, in a classroom building across campus.
"Indecision is what caused the murder of my child, when they had two hours to close that school," he said. "Indecision today is what will cause convicted felons, mentally ill and others to walk into the next gun show and purchase a weapon in order to wreak more harm."
The families and other supporters said were most concerned about political maneuvering before the vote.
The tie vote was cast by Del. Ward Armstrong, a Democrat from a pro-gun southern Virginia district. House Speaker William Howell, a Republican, appointed Armstrong to the commission to replace former Del. Brian Moran, a Democrat in favor of closing the loophole who resigned to run for governor.
Armstrong, the House minority leader, said he was upset that he was appointed to the commission only 72 hours before the vote.
"We all know why, in part, this was done the way it was," Armstrong said.
Armstrong said he was torn between the tragedy at Virginia Tech and the views of those in his district, where unemployment is about double the state average and the annual gun show is a huge economic boost.
It was suggested that Armstrong abstain, but instead he voted against supporting the legislation.
The commission instead voted 7-5 to recommend legislation that would require a fee from gun show promoters so the state can pay for a Virginia State Police trooper make sure sellers are properly licensed.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League, said his group would fight the fees.
While he called the background checks vote a victory, Van Cleave said he doesn't think the bill stands a chance in the legislature even if it had the state crime commission's support.
Cho did not buy the two guns he used at a gun show, but supporters of mandatory background checks say that's where the troubled student probably would have gone if licensed dealers had turned him down.
"The fight over smoking, the fight over drunk driving, they took years," said Joe Samaha, whose daughter Reema was killed at Tech. "This might take years, but I think we are making progress."
After the vote, supporters of the bill held a "lie-in" where about 35 people lay in the grass outside the capitol for three minutes, about the time it takes to run a background check.
Courtney Edwards, 20, a sophomore at Longwood University, organized a group of students who came to Richmond for the protest. Edwards, Nicole White's best friend, said closing the gun-show loophole is now her life's goal.
"I have already lost one of the most amazing people in my life due to gun violence, and I will do whatever it takes to prevent it from happening again," she said, her voice cracking.