Outside a gun show at Roanoke Civic Center on Saturday, a group of more than 20 demonstrators urged Congress to consider requiring universal background checks for gun buyers.

Specifically, the group was appealing to Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County. Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, indicated in February that he did not plan to support universal background checks. Mary Croft , a former Bedford County elementary school teacher, began organizing Roanoke Citizens Against Gun Violence in the days following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

She said that gun shows, such as Saturday’s Roanoke Valley Gun Show , often play host to private sales, where guns can be exchanged without background checks.

“I think people need to understand that universal background checks are the single most important thing we can do to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people,” Croft said. “And that keeps everyone safe.”

She said Goodlatte is ignoring the wishes of those who elected him, citing a survey released by Mayors Against Illegal Guns that said 89 percent of likely voters in Goodlatte’s district would like every gun buyer to pass a criminal background check.

“Bob Goodlatte needs to understand that his constituents support universal background checks and he needs to represent his constituents,” Croft said.

The demonstrators carried signs referencing shootings at Newtown and the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech. Joanne Hawley , whose son Derek O’Dell was injured in the Tech shootings, said she met with Goodlatte last month. She said he expressed an interest in shoring up the background check system to root out false information, but did not indicate he would change his stance on private sales.

Catherine Koebel , who also helped organize the demonstration, said the group does not have any problem with law-abiding citizens purchasing firearms, but a new background check policy could ensure that those with ulterior motives are less likely to obtain guns.

“These are easy guns for rapists, criminals, the adjudicated mentally insane — that’s how they get their guns,” Koebel said.

The group began demonstrating on the sidewalk outside the civic center about 2 p.m. Saturday, and demonstrator Jim Hammerstrom said they had some civil conversations with attendees before a civic center employee asked them to move.

Accompanied by gun show organizer Steven Elliott , civic center personnel told demonstrators to move to the sidewalk on Williamson Road, across the parking lot and on public land instead of civic center property. The group complied as several men sitting nearby cheered.

Elliott said the demonstrators did not have a permit to stage an event on the civic center grounds, which the gun show had rented for the weekend.

“If they get a permit, we work with them,” he said. “We have to get our permit.”

Facing the cars passing by on Williamson Road, Croft said the group wasn’t protesting the gun show or the people attending the gun show, but instead the policy allowing private sales that don’t require background checks. She said their desired policies would not prevent law-abiding citizens from using guns, but those fears have been stoked by advocacy campaigns.

“They promote this feeling that somehow their guns are going to be taken away,” Croft said. “Considering the number of guns in the United States, it’s pretty fair to say that’s an impossibility.”

Weather Journal

8 hours ago