Top Virginia Republicans are not eager to consider tightening the commonwealth’s gun control laws in response to the deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.
Instead, the GOP officials believe action should center on the state’s mental health laws as lawmakers seek to respond to the April 16 massacre in which a gunman shot 32 students and faculty members to death before committing suicide.
“The focus really needs to be on themental health aspect,” said House Speaker William Howell, R-Stafford. “What else should we do? We have laws in place. It is already illegal for the kid to do what he did.”
Kaine also has said he expects that changes to Virginia’s mental health laws will be made as a result of the Virginia Tech commission’s findings. Last week Kaine said he was “hopeful” that General Assembly members would toughen the state’s gun control statutes when lawmakers convene in January.
Virginia legislators, especially those from rural and conservative areas, have been reluctant to place limitations on gun owners.
“People are going to come up with bills, but I think we have already done enough,” Attorney General Robert McDonnell said of the state’s gun control laws. “The executive order that I worked with the governor on was the right response,” he said, referring to an order that closed a loophole in state law that allowed gunman Seung-Hui Cho to obtain the two guns he used in the killings. Cho, a 23-year-old from Centreville was prohibited from purchasing firearms under federal law because a Virginia judge ruled in 2005 that the student was mentally ill and a danger to himself. But a technical difference between the federal law and Virginia’s statute prevented the information from being reported to a nationwide database that gun dealers check before selling firearms.
McDonnell also is working on legislation that would give judicial officers more power to ensure individuals are complying with their orders to receive outpatient treatment. His bill likely will be one among many legislative proposals in the General Assembly next year. Kaine has appointed a commission to investigate the incident and issue recommendations by August. The Virginia State Crime Commission also is reviewing gun control and mental health laws, and the state Supreme Court has been reviewing the mental health system since last year.
