RICHMOND, Va. --
The Virginia Tech massacre might boost efforts to require stringent background checks of buyers at gun shows, but state lawmakers probably do not have an appetite for any broad bans, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Thursday.
At gun shows, collectors and other firearms aficionados can sell and trade weapons without checking the buyer's history. Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 students and faculty members before committing suicide, bought his guns legally through gun shops.
Efforts to tighten the gun-show law die perennially in Virginia's Republican-run, pro-gun General Assembly.
"I've always supported closing the gun-show loophole. It's just the enforcement of existing law: Felons shouldn't have a gun," the Democrat told The Associated Press.
Kaine has previously said he may issue an executive order to close a loophole that allowed Cho to pass a background check despite a history of mental problems. He reiterated that possibility Thursday.
Cho, a 23-year-old senior described as a troubled, often menacing loner, was ordered to undergo outpatient counseling by a court that found him a danger to himself. Only people hospitalized for inpatient treatment are entered into the federal database gun dealers use to check buyers' backgrounds.
"We are close to making some policy changes dealing with guns, dealing with mental health," Kaine said.
Earlier Thursday in his monthly radio show, Kaine said that even if Virginia Tech had locked down its campus after the first two slayings early on the morning of April 16, it might not have averted the subsequent carnage.
"Well, if the campus had been locked down - because the shooter lived on campus - I mean he could have gone into his dorm with 900 people instead of going into a classroom (and) he could have shot people there," Kaine said.
A man and a woman were shot and killed around 7:15 a.m. in a dormitory. More than two hours later, 30 more were slain in classrooms about a half-mile from the dorm.
Meanwhile, authorities said Cho's body was made available to his family to be buried or cremated. Attempts to reach the family about the status of Cho's body were unsuccessful Thursday.
Kaine has avoided criticizing the campus administration and police response. He said the conclusions police reached based on the circumstances of the first two deaths were reasonable.
(This version CORRECTS that buyer's history is not checked at gun shows, instead of seller's history.)
