Virginia Tech Victims Renew Call to Close Gun Loophole

RICHMOND, Dec. 9 -- One year after his sister was gunned down during the Virginia Tech massacre, 25-year-old Omar Samaha walked into a Richmond area gun show and was immediately greeted with offers from unlicensed gun dealers hawking their wares.

Samaha, who graduated from Virginia Tech in 2005, approached one of the dealers and asked to purchase an assault rifle. Within minutes, he said, the sale was complete.

"I wanted to see how easy it was, and it was by far one of the easiest things I have done," he told the Virginia State Crime Commission on Tuesday. "They never asked me my age. They never asked me if I had a criminal record or was a terrorist."

Samaha, whose sister, Reema, was killed in Norris Hall, and other relatives and victims of the Virginia Tech shootings came to the hearing to renew their push for legislation that would require background checks for all gun-show sales.

Last year, the Virginia Tech victims and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) pushed for a similar law, but it was rejected by a Republican-controlled House of Delegates committee. Despite that setback, the victims say they will fight even harder this year to get the legislation approved.

Lily Habtu of Woodbridge, who was shot in the wrist and jaw, told lawmakers how her family escaped the war-torn African nation of Eritrea in 1985. As she broke down in tears, Habtu said her parents would have never imagined that the first member of their family to go to college would become a victim of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

"This tragedy would have never happened had he not had access to guns," Habtu said. "I still can not fathom how this could happen here in America, of all places. . . . This is not the freedom that my family had searched for. This is not the American dream."

Unlicensed gun vendors at gun shows in Virginia are not required to conduct background checks on purchasers. Gun-control advocates call it a legal loophole that could lead to another massacre.

But gun-rights groups argue that changing the law would not have stopped the killings at Virginia Tech because shooter Seung Hui Cho did not buy his weapons at a gun show. They also say that average residents often buy and sell weapons at gun shows and that background checks could threaten privacy rights and hurt business.

"Nothing that happened at Virginia Tech was . . . in any way, shape or form related to gun shows," said Philip Van Cleave, president of the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League.

There appears to be sufficient support on the crime commission to approve a nonbinding statement urging legislators to close the loophole when the General Assembly convenes in January. But Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax), chairman of the commission, delayed a vote on the recommendation for a month to allow more time for public input.

If approved by the commission and the Democratic-controlled Senate, the legislation would have to get past the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee, which killed it last year.

Del. Terry G. Kilgore (R-Scott), a member of the committee, said he and other GOP legislators would almost certainly defeat the bill again this year.

"I think it was sort of a red herring all along to relate the gun show loophole to Virginia Tech," Kilgore said.

Lori Haas, whose daughter, Emily, was injured in the shootings, said she and other gun-control advocates remain optimistic that GOP leaders might allow the bill out of committee. She noted that all 100 delegates are up for reelection in November.

"I think a lot of delegates realize their constituents support background checks," Haas said. "The state is turning blue, and they should fear their future spot being jeopardized."

If the bill fails, Samaha said he and others would be back.

"We are going to keep going until this law is changed," said Samaha, who has turned over the assault weapon and the other weapons he purchased at the gun show to Richmond police.