Photo courtesy of Thinglass/Adobe Stock
By Helen Mondloch
“You want $660 for it?” asks the young man in the grainy video. He is handling an AK-47 assault rifle, marveling at its expanded stock and 30-round clip.
“Yeah, out the door,” replies the seller, who is eating a sandwich. Behind him is a cache of firearms tagged and propped up on a table. He informs the buyer of age and residency requirements for the purchase, adding, “There’s no tax, no paperwork.” When the buyer is unable to produce an ID, the seller asks a few questions and completes the transaction anyway. Handing over the weapon, he says, “Have fun with it.”
The scene, an undercover operation captured in the 2010 documentary Living for 32, takes place at an Ohio gun show. The covert cameraman is Colin Goddard, who on April 16, 2007, earned the title of survivor after living through what was then the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history—the Virginia Tech massacre, which claimed the lives of 32 students and faculty and injured 17 others. The shooter, senior English major Seung-Hi Cho, had a history of mental illness. Cho’s professors had repeatedly expressed alarm over his morbid and menacing behavior.
Living for 32 – Trailer from Living for 32 on Vimeo.
Goddard endured three grueling months of physical therapy before being able to walk again. He still carries three bullets—two in a hip and one in a knee.
Now 30, a husband and the father of a newborn baby, Goddard has coped with his grief by channeling it into action and joining forces with organizations like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Mayors Against Illegal Guns. He has recounted the details of that dark day on talk shows and with news outlets like CNN and The Washington Post. He also produced the documentary, all with the hope of conveying the horror of his experience and exposing the ease with which would-be killers can acquire weapons of mass destruction in a nation where gun violence claims more than 30,000 lives a year—a toll that exceeds that of other advanced nations.
Goddard is not the only Virginia Tech victim driven to activism. Others include Lori Haas, whose daughter Emily was shot but also survived. The elder Haas now serves as Virginia State Director of the Coalition to End Gun Violence. There’s also Uma Loganathan, who serves with Everytown for Gun Safety in memory of her father, Professor G.V. Loganathan, who suffered fatal injuries that day.
In Northern Virginia and across the country, citizens are engaged in a heated debate over solutions to gun violence, especially after a summer that seemed awash in police shootings and terror attacks, many involving high-powered firearms. The area is home to a hearty population of gun enthusiasts, evidenced by robust attendance at the National Gun Show at the Dulles Expo Center, which hosts six shows a year, and an abundance of gun shops and shooting ranges. The politically powerful National Rifle Association is also headquartered in Fairfax. Politically the region waxes blue. But down in Richmond where bills either languish or morph into law, the gun wars are dominated by Republican legislators from rural counties, notorious for fending off laws drafted by their Democratic counterparts.
That the issue of gun safety has moved front and center in both the regional and national landscape is evidenced by recent showdowns, especially the Congressional rallying that took place in June following the Orlando night club massacre that claimed 49 lives, now ranked as the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. On the House floor Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), an icon of the Civil Rights movement, led a 25-hour sit-in over gun bills that had been cold-shouldered by the legislative leadership. A piqued Paul Ryan, Republican Speaker of the House, called the protest a “publicity stunt.” In the Senate chamber, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) orchestrated a nearly 15-hour filibuster. No less dramatic was the “die-in” staged on June 14 at the NRA building, where protesters were arrested for blocking the building’s entry—one of the more fervent demonstrations that have taken place there on the 14th of every month ever since the tragedy of Dec. 14, 2012. That was the day 26 people, mostly children, were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Back in February the Epidemiologic Reviews, a leading review journal published by The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, engaged in a notable first: It devoted an entire issue to the public health threat posed by gun violence. In the month prior, President Obama held a town hall meeting at the Fairfax campus of George Mason University to discuss proposed executive orders on gun reform initiatives. Demonstrators on both sides of the issue braved the cold to shout each other down outside of the Johnson Center.
A bitterly contentious election displayed much of the same, with the gun debate garnering a much larger spotlight than it had in any presidential election in recent memory. The showdown culminated on Nov. 9, with wins and losses for both sides. Gun safety proponents celebrated a few victories at the state level—three states passed tougher gun laws through ballot initiatives. But Donald Trump’s narrow White House win spelled defeat. “The Second Amendment is on the ballot,” Trump had warned after receiving the NRA’s endorsement back in May. In August he had ignited a firestorm after suggesting that “the Second Amendment people” might take action should Clinton win the election.
So where does Virginia stand in the current tumultuous climate? What are the major focal points in the push for reform, and who are the voices leading the charge?
A still shot from the Living for 32 documentary by Colin Goddard, who is a survivor of the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech massacre / Photo courtesy of Living for 32/Cuomo Cole Productions
Nebulous Terrain
When it comes to gun laws, Virginia is reputed to be one of the less restrictive states—a place where 18-year-olds can open carry rifles and shotguns without a permit, except in places where expressly prohibited; where 21-year-olds need only meet a few basic requirements to secure a concealed carry permit; and where, thanks to a deal made earlier this year by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, visitors with concealed carry permits issued in other states are assured reciprocity rights. A statute that once limited handgun purchases to one per month was repealed in 2012 by then-Gov. Bob McDonnell. In addition, Virginia places few restrictions on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines—all of which earns the state high praise from gun rights proponents but a grade of D from groups like the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Such groups scored a modest victory with a new law requiring domestic abusers to relinquish their guns within 24 hours of being served a protective order, a trade-off in the governor’s deal with Richmond hard-liners. Another gain in the bargain: State police are now required by law to be available at gun shows to conduct optional background checks on anyone purchasing guns from private sellers. Such sellers, unlike federally licensed dealers, are not required to access a buyer’s record through the National Instant Background Check System—an allowance derisively known as the “gun show loophole.” The loophole does not go away with the new law.
The debate over guns is often cast in extremes, especially in the universe of social media, where memes and sound bites rule. Guns are either a blessing or a bane. Either guns kill people, or people kill people. The Second Amendment is either sacred or all washed-up.
But despite the rhetoric, polls suggest that most Americans, Virginians included, are increasingly opting for middle ground. Most do not seek the overthrow of the Second Amendment. According to a recent article on Salon, Second Amendment “repealists,” as they call themselves, make up a passionate but lonely movement in the national landscape. “…The leading MoveOn petition calling for repeal has a mere 2,500 signatures—not quite the three-quarters of the states needed to prevail. And the Twitter hashtag #repeal2A is not exactly shaping up into the next #blacklivesmatter,” reports the site. The dearth is perhaps rooted in pragmatism: Even the most ardent pacifist recognizes the impossibility of vanquishing the estimated 300 million firearms that reside in American households—more guns than people.
Reaching compromise between the camps of the debate is nonetheless a monumental challenge. When it comes to gun laws, the “middle” is a vast and nebulous terrain.
In the view of the Second Amendment’s most ardent defenders, guns used for sport or self-defense are undeniably woven into the fabric of American culture. An unarmed citizenry invites danger from outsiders and even from its own government, which by nature—and despite all of its checks and balances—is prone to corruption and tyranny. More legislation smacks to defenders of a slippery slope. They shudder to think that Virginia could become like New York or California, where restrictions often place what they consider an undue burden on law-abiding citizens seeking to purchase a gun—a clear violation of what the founders prescribed when they declared “the right to own and bear arms shall not be infringed.” In 2008, gun rights supporters celebrated the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Heller vs. The District of Columbia, which affirmed the individual’s right to gun ownership, effectively striking down D.C.’s ban on handguns in the home.
But that decision also provided fodder for gun safety advocates who equate the amendment’s oft-debated prefatory clause—“A well-regulated militia being necessary to a free state”—with an affirmation of common-sense regulation. In delivering the court’s majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia, the staunch conservative who died last February, declared that “like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.” Scalia validated “longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings…. [and] laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.” He also upheld “the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons,” which many would interpret as any weapons intended for war.
Moreover, advocates of tighter gun restrictions argue that Second Amendment rights should not trump other fundamental rights enshrined in our founding documents: like the right “to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and the right to “domestic tranquility.”
Living for 32 still shot / Photo courtesy of Living for 32/Cuomo Cole Productions
Visions and Voices of Reform
The latest and largest initiatives to rein in gun deaths include two measures that the vast majority of Virginians support, according to Public Policy Polling: universal background checks, supported by 88 percent of the state’s population; and a “No-Fly, No-Buy” law that would prohibit suspected terrorists on the FBI’s watch list from purchasing a gun, a measure with 86 percent support. A third initiative, a ban on military-style “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines, enjoys smaller majority support: 55 percent. National polls yield similar levels of bipartisan support across the country. The NRA decries all three measures, arguing that they would either be ineffective or could violate constitutional rights.
Among leaders sounding the alarm for stronger federal gun laws are Rep. Don Beyer [D-Va., 8th District] and Rep. Gerry Connolly [D-Va., 11th District]. Both participated in the Congressional sit-in, delivering speeches on the House floor late into the night.
In an interview at his Alexandria office, Beyer called congressional inaction on gun violence “a stunning failure of leadership.” In refusing even to allow gun bills to come to the House floor, Congress stands “utterly at odds with the American people,” he said. He explained the intransigence as a case of political entrapment: “Imagine, for example, if [Rep.] Barbara Comstock [R-Va., 10th District] were to vote ‘yes’ on a bill banning terror suspects from purchasing guns. She would upset the NRA people and her party because unconditional gun rights have become an article of faith for them. If she votes ‘no,’ it becomes a television ad: ‘Barbara Comstock voted to allow terrorists to buy guns.’ Either way, it hurts her politically.”
He added, “The issue’s become more polarized than ever, so Republicans have to work hard to stay in their netherworld.’”
As a Democrat who campaigned on standing up to the well-financed NRA, Beyer has sponsored and co-sponsored several bills aimed at keeping guns out of the wrong hands. He seeks to strengthen the NICS in several ways: first, by making the system universal—that is, requiring that even private gun sellers conduct a background check, thereby shutting down the infamous loophole that currently allows an estimated 40 percent of sales to go unchecked. He also seeks to broaden disqualifying criteria, expand the means by which crucial information can be reported and otherwise tighten the system.
Beyer’s “No-Fly, No-Buy” bill aims to prevent anyone with suspected ties to terrorism—i.e., those barred from air travel—from meeting the cut. In fact, gun control advocates had proposed the measure long before the Orlando murder rampage unleashed by Omar Mateen, the disaffected 29-year-old who had repeatedly come under scrutiny from the FBI. But even now, the measure sparks fierce opposition over concerns about placing undue burdens on law-abiding citizens in the event of errors or arbitrariness. (NRA officials point out that even the honorable John Lewis once landed on a watch list for acts of civil protest.) Beyer responded by emphasizing the right of appeal. “It does not become Kafkaesque,” he said.
Protesters outside of the NRA headquarters in Fairfax on Dec. 14, 2014 / Photo by Jean Van Devanter White
Beyer also urges enhancing the background check system by allowing family and community members, including law enforcement officials, to petition courts about individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. Under the current system, records are flagged after a person is involuntarily committed to a treatment facility or otherwise adjudicated as mentally unstable. Beyer referenced cases of depraved killers who purchased guns legally due to unreported psychopathy or background checks that were otherwise woefully inadequate.
One such killer was 22-year-old Jared Loughner, who despite being forced to withdraw from a community college because he displayed frightening signs of mental instability, was able to legally purchase the Glock pistol he used to shoot Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and a crowd of her constituents in a supermarket parking lot in 2011. Six of his victims died. Another is James E. Holmes, the 24-year-old who gunned down 12 people and injured 70 at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, in 2012. Holmes had legally purchased a cache of guns and ammunition over the internet and at a gun shop despite undergoing treatment for a serious mental disorder. Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white supremacist whose drug convictions should have barred him from buying a gun in 2015, was able to exploit the three-day limit that the law imposes on background checks. The system experienced a glitch, allowing Roof to walk away on day four with the .45-caliber handgun he used to murder nine members of a Charleston church. In the case of Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter—who had, in fact, been deemed “an imminent danger” by a judge more than a year prior to his rampage—an incomplete record allowed him to purchase the weapons used to shatter to sanctity of one of Virginia’s most esteemed sites.
Another category of would-be shooters who could be thwarted by reforms to the NICS are themselves potential victims: those bent on suicide. Self-inflicted gunshot wounds account for roughly two-thirds of all gun deaths—a statistic frequently dismissed as inconsequential. Those determined to end their lives will always find a way, the argument goes. As Beyer pointed out, however, research suggests precisely the opposite: Suicide attempts involving guns almost always end in death, whereas alternative methods often fail, giving victims time to reconsider an impulsive decision. Hence, measures that would bar suicidal individuals from attaining guns would save lives and spare families immeasurable pain. “Ask anyone who’s been through it,” Beyer said. Having lost two friends to suicide in recent years, the congressman knows the agony.
Such revelations highlight another point for Beyer and like-minded legislators: Like any public health crisis, gun violence calls for empirical studies and evidence-based solutions. But the gun lobby has for years stymied data-collecting for fear it opens doors to government intrusion. In 1996, a law authored by then-Rep. Jay Dickey (R-Ark.) banned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting research that would be used to “advocate or promote gun control,” effectively cutting off federally funded studies. Nearly 20 years later in 2015, Dickey voiced regret at having written the law, given the bloodbaths plaguing the nation.
Democrats and even some Republicans have also called for reinstating the assault weapons ban, originally signed into law in 1994 by President Bill Clinton but allowed to expire in 2004 under President George W. Bush. In an email, Gerry Connolly offered this perspective: “In the time since the ban has been allowed to lapse, these weapons of war have become a common tool for the mayhem unleashed in mass shootings. The addition of high-capacity rounds has made it even easier for mass killers to carry out their crimes and inflict maximum casualties.” He added: “Certainly our Founding Fathers did not envision AR-15 semi-automatic rifles when they drafted the Second Amendment. We can protect Second Amendment rights and prevent widespread gun violence—the two are not mutually exclusive.”
In all likelihood, says Beyer, many of his Republican colleagues agree with Connolly’s premise. “Not all 247 Republican House members are that rigid ideologically,” he said. But the vast majority are silenced, he believes, by the political stranglehold of the gun lobby, an entity notorious for squashing dialogue among lawmakers and with the public.
Neither Rob Wittman [R-Va., 1st District] nor Comstock responded to repeated interview requests. NRA communications officials likewise did not respond. One NRA official denied this journalist entry to the NRA museum, which is free and open to the public, because he had spotted her speaking to protesters outside the building on Aug. 14.
Part two of this series will examine the views of a few local legal scholars, spiritual leaders and gun shop owners.
(December 2016)