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Sens. Henry Marsh (right) and Creigh Deeds talk about bill.
Josh Horwitz, of the Virginia Center for Public Safety (front, left), talks with Virginia |
RICHMOND--A Senate committee yesterday killed legislation to close the so-called "gun show loophole," despite efforts to amend the bill to make it more palatable to opponents.
A House version of the bill has already failed this session, making it doubtful that the legislation--championed by families of victims of last year's Virginia Tech shootings--will be revived this year.
However, the Senate Courts of Justice committee did vote to send the bill to the Crime Commission for further study--against the wishes of the bill sponsor, Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond.
The bill would have required private sellers of guns at gun shows to do background checks on their buyers. Currently licensed gun dealers must do background checks on buyers, but private sellers do not.
Proponents call it the gun show loophole and say it provides a way for those who would not pass a background check--felons, the mentally ill, those who have a restraining order against them--to bypass the law and buy a gun.
Although Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people and himself, and injured others, at Virginia Tech last year, did not buy his guns at a gun show, families of the victims said he could have. They've pushed hard for the bill, backed by Gov. Tim Kaine, providing emotional testimony at committee hearings Monday and last week on the House side.
But Republicans and rural Democrats on the Senate committee were not convinced. The bill failed on a vote of 6 to 9. "They've taken a backdoor approach to this thing," said Andy Goddard, whose son was injured in the Tech shooting, after the meeting. "I don't think they had the guts to take action on it in front of the people of Virginia."
The vote came after Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, proposed an amendment that he hoped would help garner support for the bill, primarily by exempting carriers of valid concealed carry permits from having to get background checks when buying from private sellers.
"I've never voted for legislation like this before but I think it's important that in the end we respond in some fashion to the tragedy at Virginia Tech and the focus these parents have poured into this legislation," Deeds said.
"Losing kids is a powerful thing," he told reporters later. "You have to respond to that anger and that pain."
The committee, and those there to speak on it, were given 10 minutes to read the new language.
Supporters then said they could live with the changes, but opponents--like the National Rifle Association--could not.
Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, had also planned to introduce an amendment to the bill, to allow private sellers access to the federal background check database to do voluntary checks. He said he thought he had support for it, but that support fell through. He wants the Crime Commission to still consider that angle when the commission studies the bill in the coming year.
Marsh had opposed sending the bill to the Crime Commission because he didn't believe the commission--made up of members of both houses of the legislature and citizens--would deal with it quickly enough.
"This is an issue that cries for action immediately," Marsh said.
Commission members who are also on the Senate Courts committee disagreed with that and promised to deal with it this year.
"The reason it's never gone to the Crime Commission is nobody's ever asked for it," said Sen. Tommy Norment, R-Williamsburg. "The bill is dead. The House has killed the bill. The only opportunity for a resurrection and improvement on it and in any fashion to keep it alive is to go ahead and send it to the Crime Commission."
Sen. Janet Howell, who supported the bill, retorted, "This bill is dead, not because the House killed it, but because members of this committee killed it."
Kaine had spoken strongly about his support for the bill and his belief that not passing it was akin to declaring that felons and the mentally ill should have weapons. His spokesman, Gordon Hickey, said after the vote that Kaine was "very disappointed" but hadn't decided yet what other steps to take.
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
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The bill would have required private gun dealers at gun shows to perform background checks on people who are purchasing weapons from them. |
