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  Va. gov. looking at gun-buyer loophole
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ContributorThe Sunset Provision 
Last EditedThe Sunset Provision  Apr 24, 2007 02:04pm
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MediaWebsite - Yahoo News
News DateTuesday, April 24, 2007 08:00:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionVirginia's governor said Tuesday he may be able to close the loophole that allowed Seung-Hui Cho to buy the guns he used to kill 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus.

In 2005, a court had ordered psychiatric counseling for Cho after determining he presented a danger to himself. But because he was never committed to a mental hospital, that order never appeared in the background check database that gun dealers are required to check before selling a firearm.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said in a radio interview Tuesday that an executive order might be able to tighten that reporting requirement.

"Based on what we know now, ... it's pretty clear: He should not have been able to obtain a weapon," said retired Virginia State Police Superintendent W. Gerald Massengill, who Kaine appointed to head a review commission.

On the Virginia Tech campus, classes are back in session this week, with counselors available for students and staff who needed to talk.

Joe Merola needed them Monday after trying to give his students a lecture on an equation explaining the voltage in batteries. Looking out at 100 students and a Virginia Tech sweat shirt he had placed on a seat to honor a student who was wounded, he broke down.

"I lost it halfway through class," Merola said. "I burst into tears and had to turn
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