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I’m behind in my reading. Way behind. In some magazines I read, I am still in the Virginia Tech news cycle. Which is why recently I read a short editorial on how Virginia Governor, Tim Kaine, immediately tried to deflect the forthcoming bipartisan finger pointing targeting lack of gun control for why the massacre happened. By focusing the brunt of the responsibility on the shooter Cho Seung-Hui’s mental illness, he could effectively deflect any criticism of the state’s gun laws. But it does not take a rocket scientist, bipartisan or not, to figure out that the lenient laws making it quick and easy to purchase handguns naturally lead to more people buying them, some of whom may have a serious mental illness.

In Virginia, there is no waiting period to buy a handgun. There is no background check that prevents people from buying one. There are no records of sale. There is only a permit required to carry a handgun on your person if it is concealed. And, most disturbing to me, is that though there are Federal programs that ask states for statistics on who are buying guns, Virginia simply doesn’t collect the data. No data, no federal intervention.

Lack of evidence to support the success or failures of our laws sells all citizens short. Sure, mental illness played a huge role in what lead Cho to commit the hideous act that he did. But what killed 33 people that day were bullets fired from a gun bought legally.

For the record, I am not one to vote along party lines. I vote for the people I believe will do a good job and represent the people. And to me, those don’t tend to be ones who mislead the public. As my grandmother always used to say, lying by omission is lying just the same.

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