Gov Kaine: Background Checks on ALL Sales At Gun Shows

Governor Tim Kaine is, again, taking a stab at ending the dreaded “gun show ‘loophole.’”
He is set to introduce legislation that would require private persons selling guns at gun shows to perform a background check on a person they want to sell a firearm to.

Says Gov. Kaine: “It is long past time to apply existing Virginia law to every firearm sale at a gun show.[emphasis added.]” Kaine was “flanked” by “legislators, local law-enforcement officers and family members of Virginia Tech shooting victims at state police headquarters in Chesterfield Country.” His hope is to use public sympathy over the high-profile Virginia Tech shootings to collar and lead Virginians into further restrictions on their right to buy a firearm, even though the gun used by Seung-Hui Cho was not purchased at a gun show – he bought it at a gun shop – legally. A teary-eyed Kane said further; “I think people understand some things about how these loopholes can lead to horrible crimes that devastate families and devastate communities in a way that maybe they didn’t understand before.”

Think they aren’t trying to push this through? Ultra-liberal [state] Senator Henry L. Marsh III (D-Richmond) is sponsoring Kaine’s bill in the senate saying “It’s a no-brainer whose time has come.”

Kaine’s bill, as currently drawn though, would not require background checks on gun sales by private individuals outside of a gun show. Therein lays a cause for questioning.

1. If the governors intent is to keep firearms out of the hands of the mentally deranged, what about those purchases made from individual to individual? Deranged but functional people like Cho can still make a purchase that way.
2. How may deranged people have bought firearms from gun shows and then went on killing sprees? Do we know? We may be trying to fix something that is not showing itself to be an issue.
3. How are authorities going to manage the number of people who want to do background checks so they can sell their collection at a gun show? Will sellers be able to comply? Will they have to pay for it out of pocket, or will the state pick up the tab?
4. What about disclosing personal/private information to people on the street? Do you want a stranger you barely know to find out that you are a.) a spouse abuser, b)a felon, or c.)deemed to have some mental deficiency? A negative on a background check will tell them one of these or others may be at issue since the state says they can’t buy the firearm.

Delegate “Bill” Janis of Henrico gets the issue right the first time. Says Janice “It’s a largely meaningless gesture. There is no reason why those same casual sales can’t take place outside a gun show. I’m not sure how this does anything to prevent this type of transaction.” He characterized the governor’s move as “more political posturing and symbolism than substance.” “I think it’s the first step toward the governor’s ultimate goal of banning all casual sales and or transfers of firearms between private persons in Virginia.”