Virginia Tech Families Thank Congressmen for their Leadership on Gun Show Loophole Issue

WASHINGTON, April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence:

On the eve of the third anniversary of the mass shooting at Virginia Tech, the families of those killed or wounded and the survivors of that massacre would like to offer our sincere thanks to U.S. Representatives Gerald Connolly, Jim Moran and Bobby Scott for their leadership.  All three Congressmen from the state of Virginia have co-sponsored H.R. 2324, a bill introduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) to require background checks on all firearm purchasers at gun shows.

Today, in memory of the Virginia Tech victims, these Members sent a letter to their colleagues in the House of Representatives asking them to co-sponsor the Castle/McCarthy bill to close the Gun Show Loophole.  We are grateful for their commitment and pursuit of safe communities for all Americans.

The killer at Virginia Tech was able to legally buy his handguns because the law did not mandate that his mental health records be reported to the federal background check system.  Even though that specific problem has since been fixed at the state level in Virginia, a future shooter would still be able to walk into a gun show in more than 30 states (including Virginia) and purchase a firearm(s) from an unlicensed seller without undergoing any background check whatsoever.  We have visited gun shows in Virginia and other states and witnessed these unregulated sales firsthand.  Some of us have even purchased guns in this manner and documented it on video in order to demonstrate how easy it is.

When we ask law enforcement what we can do to prevent another Virginia Tech shooting—the response is invariably "close the Gun Show Loophole" to stop criminals, domestic abusers, the seriously mentally ill, and other prohibited purchasers from getting guns.  The Virginia Tech Review Panel Report made the recommendation that all private sales at gun shows be processed through the background check system, stating, "In an age of widespread information technology, it should not be too difficult for anyone, including private sellers, to contact the [appropriate federal and state databases] for a background check that usually only takes minutes before transferring a firearm."

We applaud Congressmen Connolly, Moran and Scott for taking action to make these recommendations a reality.  In memory of the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre and all those affected by gun violence, we ask their colleagues in the House of Representatives follow their lead and co-sponsor H.R. 2324.

SOURCE Coalition to Stop Gun Violence