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From The Roanoke Times

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RICHMOND -- The Virginia State Crime Commission delayed a decision Tuesday on whether to recommend legislation requiring instant background checks for all firearms purchased at gun shows.

But its members won't soon forget the testimony of 23-year-old Lily Habtu, who survived the April 16, 2007, shootings at Virginia Tech. With tears streaming down her face, Habtu told the panel how her parents had escaped war-torn Eritrea so their children "could have a better future."

"We never envisioned that I would end up being shot several times and find myself ruthlessly attacked as if I were in a war zone," said Habtu, who was badly injured in Norris Hall during a campus rampage that left 32 students and teachers dead and 25 wounded.

Habtu, who graduated last year, and families of Tech shooting victims urged the commission Tuesday to support legislation closing Virginia's so-called "gun show loophole." The state requires background checks for firearms transactions conducted by licensed dealers at gun shows, but not for private sales conducted at the same events.

The 13-member commission, which includes nine legislators, will decide next month whether to recommend legislation for the upcoming General Assembly session. The panel's chairman, Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax County, put off a vote Tuesday after a debate over whether the commission had properly notified the public about the matter.

"This is not an effort for me to wimp out on a vote," Albo explained. "I like record checks at gun shows."

The panel's recommendation does not bind the legislature, and lawmakers expect gun show bills to be introduced regardless of the commission's position.

"I don't think we need direction from the crime commission to have a bill presented," said Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond, who for several years has sponsored bills to expand background checks at gun shows.

In the aftermath of the Tech shootings, Gov. Tim Kaine and several families of the victims urged lawmakers to require background checks for all gun show transactions. But committees in both houses of the General Assembly defeated the legislation. A Senate bill failed even after it was amended to create exemptions for sales of antique guns and for buyers with concealed-carry permits.

House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said he doesn't expect the legislation to gain traction in the House. Griffith is a member of the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee, which defeated the legislation this year.

"I don't really see a whole lot of changing votes," said Griffith, who opposes the legislation. He said the Tech shootings have no connection to laws regulating gun shows.

Seung-Hui Cho, the gunman responsible for the shootings, was able to purchase weapons from licensed dealers because information about his mental illness had not been entered into a database of prohibited gun owners. But a state panel that investigated the shootings noted that Cho, who killed himself after the mass shootings, could have avoided a background check by seeking out an unlicensed seller at a gun show.

Retired Virginia State Police Superintendent Gerald Massengill, who headed the Virginia Tech Review Panel, said the commission should "step up and do the right thing."

"As much as I think of my guns and the Second Amendment, and considering what the Supreme Court just said to us about individual rights to own firearms, it's just puzzling to me as to why anyone would want to sell a gun to someone that is a convicted felon or mentally disabled," said Massengill, a member of the crime commission. "It's time for common sense."

Gun rights advocates, some carrying holstered handguns, argued against the legislation and warned that it could be a first step toward restricting all private firearms transactions. Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said the gun show legislation has no connection to the Tech shootings and called the link "a red herring."

"Evil is a tough thing to legislate out of this world," Van Cleave said. "I wish you could do it, but you can't."

Omar Samaha, whose sister Reema was killed in Norris Hall, told the commission that he purchased an assault rifle and other weapons from unlicensed sellers at a Richmond gun show this year to demonstrate how easily someone can avoid a background check.

"I was able to buy guns from private sellers -- not a single question asked," Samaha said. "They never asked if I was of age. They never asked if I was a criminal or terrorist or involved in any gangs, crimes or anything. They asked me nothing."

Samaha later said he purchased the weapons with his own money and turned them over to Richmond police.

Samaha and other relatives of Tech shooting victims said they intend to press their case for legislation again when the General Assembly session begins in January. Habtu, who has a bullet lodged in her jaw, said she also will lend her voice to the fight.

"I don't care if it takes a decade," she said after leaving the commission's meeting. "No one should have to go through what I went through."

If her testimony didn't win votes, it at least earned the admiration of the crime commission's chairman.

"I think everybody up here, whether they're with you on the issue or not, are honored that somebody like you would come and take this tragedy and try to make the laws of Virginia better," Albo said.