Vigil held after panel OKs gun-show bill

A Virginia Senate panel approved a bill Monday to require criminal background checks on people who buy weapons at gun shows.

After this victory for gun-control supporters, about 30 people held a vigil outside the Capitol to commemorate youths killed by gunfire.

“My son has three bullets which he will carry with him the rest of his life,” said Andrew L. Goddard, father of Colin Goddard, a survivor of the April 16, 2007 attacks at Virginia Tech.

In 2007, the number of people under age 20 killed by firearms in Virginia was 76, according to the Virginia Violent Death Reporting system. The dead included seven victims of the Virginia Tech massacre.

If the full Senate and then the House pass the bill, private sellers at gun shows would be required to perform background checks on all buyers.

“I think there needs to be more gun-control legislation in effect, obviously that was one of the main loopholes,” said Daniel King, a political science major at VCU.

King said that although the legislation may not impact VCU directly, overall it would help solve the problem of guns falling into the wrong hands.

The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 8-7 in favor of the bill. It won support even from traditionally pro-gun Republicans.

Even so, Pam Pouchot, former head of the Virginia Committee for Gun-Free Schools, doubts the bill will pass.

“If it gets through the Senate, it has to go to the committee in the House,” Pouchot said. “They will kill it.”

Legislation to close the so-called loophole has been introduced several times in the past.

“It’s very unusual for it to pass out of committee,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

The legislation’s supporters say the bill would close what they call the gun-show loophole. Van Cleave, a gun-rights supporter, says that label is misleading.

“What you can do at a gun show you can do outside of a gun show-including selling a private gun without a background check,” Van Cleave said.

Those at the vigil, many of them victims of gun-related crimes, shared their stories and expressed hope for the future.

“The first battle was won this morning,” said Alice Montjoy of the Virginia Center for Public Safety.

The center said it hopes to address other aspects of gun-control laws that allow private sellers to avoid background checks.

Van Cleave said he is skeptical that new regulations will have an impact on violent crime.

About 1 percent of guns used in crimes come from gun shows, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, amended the bill to exempt people with concealed weapons permits from the background checks. Under the amendment, a background check would not be needed to buy antique weapons at gun shows.

“I don’t really feel that (the bill) is going to have that much of a direct effect on the crime rate at VCU,” said crafts and material studies major Kristi Totritis. “But it couldn’t hurt.”