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Va. Tech families to lobby [VA] legislature
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| Contributor | The Sunset Provision |
| Last Edited | The Sunset Provision Dec 24, 2007 09:26pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Website - Yahoo News |
| News Date | Tuesday, December 25, 2007 03:25:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | As he sat in a hospital, watching blood ooze from his son Colin's gunshot wounds, Andrew Goddard negotiated with a higher power: Let my son live, and I will do what I can to spare another parent this torture.
Colin survived, despite the four bullets fired into him by Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho.
Now his father is making good on the deal: He and relatives of others killed or injured on the campus in Blacksburg will lobby for changes to the state's gun and mental health laws during the General Assembly session that begins Jan. 9.
Together, they hope to be a powerful lobbying force with the potential to make changes in areas that have historically had gained little traction with Virginia legislators.
"They stand in the position unlike no one else that will be in this whole process," said state Sen. Kenneth Cuccinelli. "And they will get listened to."
Since the April 16 shootings, in which Cho killed 32 others and himself after a long history of mental illness, several of the victims' families have demanded stricter oversight of gun purchases and a revamping of the state's mental health system. Nine survivors and 16 families of those killed signed a letter urging Congress to strengthen the background check system for weapons purchases.
Cho was able to pass a background check and buy two guns despite having been deemed mentally defective by a Virginia court. In response, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed an executive order requiring that anyone ordered by a court to get mental health treatment be added to a state police database of people barred from buying guns.
However, people can still buy guns through other means that require no background check in Virginia, such as gun shows where scores of people sell or swap firearms.
Efforts to close the so-called gun show loophole have failed repeatedly, and even Andrew Goddard — the most outspoken family member on the issue — acknowledges that getting lawmakers to close it this year will be a str |
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