Bill would close hole in gun law

WASHINGTON – The House moved swiftly Wednesday to fix flaws in the national gun background check system that allowed the Virginia Tech shooter to buy guns despite his mental health problems.

The legislation, passed by voice vote, was endorsed by the National Rifle Association, boosting its chances of becoming the first major gun control law in more than a decade.

The measure would require states to automate their lists of convicted criminals and the mentally ill who are prohibited under a 1968 law from buying firearms, and report those lists to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.

Seung-Hui Cho, who in April killed 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech before taking his own life, had been ordered to undergo outpatient mental health treatment and should have been barred from buying the two guns he used in the rampage. But the state of Virginia never forwarded this information to the national background check system.

The House bill next moves to the Senate, where gun control advocate Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was talking to NRA ally Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and there was a “very strong” chance of passage. “When the NRA and I agree on legislation, you know that it’s going to get through, become law and do some good,” he said.

The legislation requires state and federal agencies to transmit all relevant disqualifying records to the NICS database. It also provides $250 million a year over the next three years to help states meet those goals and it imposes penalties – including cuts in federal grants under an anti-crime law – for states that fail to meet benchmarks for automating their systems and supplying information to the NICS.