Governor Kaine Eyes Gun-Buyer Loophole

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia's governor said yesterday that 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.

Governor Kaine said in a radio interview yesterday that an executive order might be able to tighten that reporting requirement.

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 sweatshirt he had placed on a seat to honor a student who was wounded, he broke down.

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

It was a common sentiment around campus a week after Cho killed two people in a dormitory and gunned down 30 in a classroom building before killing himself.

Students and staff paused for moments of silence Monday at the times Cho opened fire.