McDonnell going wobbly on shutting down Va. gun check system?

Earlier this year gun rights advocates were dismayed when Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R) said that he would "not be inclined" to sign legislation limiting the power of state colleges to ban gun carry in campus buildings.  Like most states, it’s currently not a crime in Virginia to carry guns on college campuses, but state colleges may promulgate “policies” restricting gun carry by its students and staff, and “regulations,” which have the “force of law” against the general public, banning gun carry in campus buildings (not the open grounds and parking lots of the campus).

But these same gun rights supporters cheered when McDonnell came out in support of replacing Virginia’s notoriously slow fee-based gun purchase check system (“V-Check”) with the more or less instant and free National Instant Check System (NICS).  McDonnell said that

his administration continues to evaluate whether there's a way to ensure that all of the state restrictions could be included in a national check . . . if that can be done, “then we ought to get rid of it and only have one. I fully subscribe to that.”  McDonnell didn't say how soon that could be achieved or when his staff will conclude its review. 

But McDonnell, now all but openly running as Mitt Romney’s shadow Vice-Presidential candidate, may be back pedaling from his earlier promise to sign legislation repealing Virginia’s state based gun check system.  At least that’s what Virginia gun rights experts like OpenCarry.org’s John Pierce of Bristol are thinking.

Mr. Pierce notes that a variety of solid pro-gun bills are now flying through the Republican controlled legislature, including repeals of Virginia’s “one handgun a month” law as well as local option fingerprinting of concealed handgun permit applicants. 

“So why are Republican Senators now giving SB 612 such a chilly reception in the Senate Courts of Justice committee” asks Pierce?  “I can’t believe the Republicans are doing this en masse without specific guidance from Governor McDonnell.”

SB 612 is patroned by Senator Dick Black (R - Leesburg).  At a committee hearing Black stated that because it would not be possible for NICS to enforce Virginia’s one handgun a month law, his bill was limited to shifting only long gun checks to NICS and ensuring that Virginia specific firearms disability data would be shared with NICS to enforce both Virginia and federal law, a mandate of the federal Brady Act at 18 USC 922(t).

At the Senate hearing on SB 612 Virginia State Police spokesman Colonel Bob Kemmler declined to take any “position” on the bill but did explain the ins and outs of the V-Check and NICS system to the committee.  Specifically, Kemmler clarified that Virginia already shares most data necessary for NICS to enforce Virginia specific firearm rights disabilities, i.e., state protective orders and mental health adjudications, but not certain juvenile delinquent adjudications which would be felonies if committed by adults.

However Kemmler noted that Senator Black’s bill closes the juvenile delinquent adjudication loophole by directing the state police to “to furnish the information to NICS.”  Listen to the audio file starting at time hack 1:33. 

Subsequent committee testimony related to V-Check’s history of long delays and system outages.  President of Showmasters and C&E Gun Shows Annette Elliott said that since 2004 V-Check’s delays and outages have persistently disrupted background-check-enabled dealer gun sales at gun shows.  John Pierce wryly observes that this actually “forces gun buyers to buy guns in private sales without background checks.”

Acting committee chair Senator Ryan McDougle (R - Mechanicsville) stated that he had a bill pending to give the State Police over a million dollars to hire additional workers to speed up V-Check background checks. The committee voted to “continue” SB 612 for the year, however, due to an apparent breach of Senate rules, this and other bills must be re-heard by the committee again later this week. 

Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) President Philip van Cleave would like the committee to take this opportunity to reconsider SB 612 for passage this year, not next. 

“It’s just not likely that hiring more workers will speed up V-Check when the system itself goes offline for 5 hours at a time,” said Van Cleave, an information technology professional. 

John Pierce warned that “if Virginia pours good money after bad into V-Check, and, back ground checks in Virginia don’t become truly ‘instant’ by the November election," gun owners are going to wonder whether a Romney-McDonnell administration would be “reliable” on Second Amendment rights.