The Gun Show Loophole: It's About Safety

With the second anniversary of the remembrance of victims of the Virginia Tech massacre comes a new television ad aimed at generating support for legislation that would close the state’s gun show loophole. It can only help point out the General Assembly’s stubborn refusal to pass the commonsense piece of legislation.

The ad, which began airing last week in markets that include Lynchburg, is sponsored in part by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He joined family members of Tech’s massacre victims in northern Virginia to unveil the ad that calls on the state to end the practice of allowing “occasional sellers” at gun shows to sell weapons without conducting background checks on the buyers.

Bloomberg said that many of the guns bought at such shows in Virginia are “resold to criminals and used in violent crimes across the country.” He said that guns used in crimes are more likely to come from Virginia than from all but five other states.

Despite urgent pleas from families of victims of the Tech shootings, the Assembly in February once again rejected legislation that would have required sellers at gun shows to conduct the same federal background checks on purchasers that are required of licensed firearms retailers before each sale. The loophole allows unlicensed sellers to make their weapons available to the public at gun shows without conducting a background check on whether the buyer is a convicted felon or has a history of mental illness.

The TV spot features Omar Samaha, whose sister, Reema, was killed in the April 16, 2007 shootings in Blacksburg. Samaha discusses state gun laws and singles out former state Attorney General Bob McDonnell who, he says, “wants to keep this loophole open.” McDonnell, a Republican, is now running for governor.

Bloomberg pointed out that it is not his place to become mired in state politics, but he said he wants McDonnell and other officials to question their stance on the issue. The debate, he said, is not about the Second Amendment or ending hunting — it’s about keeping guns away from criminals and others who are not allowed to possess them.

“Make no mistake, this is not a partisan issue, this is not a geographic issue,” the mayor said. “This is an issue of whether or not you want to protect criminals or you want to protect the public.”

Bloomberg is exactly right. And one of the three candidates running for the Democratic nomination for governor, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, helps him make the point that the issue is not partisan. Deeds has joined McDonnell in opposing legislation to close the gun show loophole.

McDonnell’s campaign said the state does not regulate private sales of firearms between citizens and he does not support “such an expansion into the private affairs of law-abiding citizens.” As far as gun shows are concerned, that is not the point. Gun shows are organized events designed to attract hundreds of sellers and thousands of shoppers and buyers.

Gun shows go way beyond the private sale of a pistol, for example, between two friends. Private sellers at gun shows should be required to subject their buyers to the same requirement of a background check as the one that applies to licensed dealers.

What is the problem with that? It is not a Second Amendment issue; it is not a hunting issue. If background checks are acceptable for licensed dealers, why should they not be acceptable for weekend dealers who show up at gun shows with their displays of fire power?

The background checks make sense for both categories of sellers. That’s the message Mayor Bloomberg and the Tech families are trying to get across. How much longer will it take for the General Assembly to understand that?