WASHINGTON — Gun-control advocates have been largely stymied in their efforts to get significant new firearms restrictions, but they still believe they can achieve one goal: closing a loophole that allows sales at gun shows without background checks on purchasers.
This week, two Senate Democrats introduced legislation to close that loophole in federal law, despite a recent failure in Virginia -- where a gunman killed 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech in April -- to change a similar state law.
Accompanied by family members of some of the Virginia Tech victims, along with gun-control advocate Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Democratic Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Jack Reed of Rhode Island unveiled their proposal at a news conference Wednesday.
"It defies common sense that a loophole in federal law lets unlicensed dealers sell firearms at gun shows without running a background check on the buyer," Lautenberg said. "Our legislation would require background checks for every gun purchased at every gun show across America. Without this change in the law, felons, fugitives and severely mentally ill people will continue to be able to buy guns -- no questions asked."
Under current law, only federally licensed gun dealers, such as those at sporting-goods retailers or gun shops, are required to conduct background checks. That doesn't cover informal situations, such as gun shows at an outdoor venue or in a facility rented for the weekend.
The senators pointed to the 1999 killings at Columbine High School outside Denver as an example. Three of the four weapons used at Columbine were purchased at gun shows, and the young woman who bought them for the two shooters -- because she was 18 and they were 17 -- has said she would not have done so had a background check been required.
Weeks after the Columbine shooting, Lautenberg introduced a proposal to close the gun-show loophole in federal law. It passed the Senate on Vice President Al Gore's tiebreaking vote, but did not survive the House.
This time Lautenberg and Reed are using the Virginia Tech shootings to build their case, though gunman Seung-hui Cho bought his guns from a licensed dealer and underwent a background check.
Mentally ill individuals are not permitted to buy firearms from licensed dealers; Cho had been ruled a danger to himself in a 2005 court commitment hearing, but Virginia never forwarded that finding to the national screening database.
