Closing Gun Show Loophole Now Kaine's Priority

I posted on November 28th that Governor Tim Kaine wanted to close the so-called "gun show loophole" but his spokesman could not say at the time whether his anti-gun boss would put his "political capital" behind the effort. Well, apparently Kaine was taken to the woodshed for acting like a wimp and not having the courage of his convictions because the Roanoke Times and the Virginian Pilot reported yesterday that Kaine indeed is going to put his neck on the line to see the law gets passed during this session. Kaine made the announcement while speaking at the annual AP Day at the Capital, a legislative forum sponsored by The Associated Press and the Society for Professional Journalists. "I am very unequivocal about closing the gun-show loophole," Kaine said.

According to Kaine, the "loophole" gives felons and mentally ill people access to weapons they should not be allowed to buy. He even went so far as to say that had Cho not been able to buy his guns legally (as he did thanks to a breakdown in the court and mental health system) he would have turned to a gun show.

Now, I don't know about Kaine, but I have attended and worked many gun shows and a)I don't recall seeing someone sitting at a table all or part of the day with one or two guns from his personal collection waiting for someone to come over and buy them and b)more times than not, when I see someone walk through the door with a rifle on his back with a "for sale" sign, the same guy walks out the door with the gun. The fact is, very few "private" sales take place at gun shows and even fewer people looking to commit a crime buy their guns at gun shows.

The good thing is pro-gun Democrats like Senator John Edwards and Republican Delegate Morgan Griffith have said the climate in the General Assembly to pass gun control has not changed. VSSA will continue to work with our friends in the General Assembly to see that any bill attempting to end gun shows as we know them ends up on the same trash heap as all other attempts.