Reema Samaha's Father on "Nuisance" of Background Check

By: Lowell
Published On: 1/19/2008 7:37:16 AM

Courtesy of the Roanoke Times, here's Joseph Samaha of Centreville, whose daughter Reema was murdered on April 16, 2007 at Virginia Tech, by a mentally ill young man armed with a .22 caliber Walther P22 semi-automatic pistol and a Glock 19 semiautomatic pistol (with jacketed hollow-point bullets for maximum tissue damage).

Samaha told the committee about reading a blog posting that described the expanded background check requirement as "a nuisance."

"Let me tell you about the nuisance of hearing the news reports of shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16 when I woke up," Samaha said. "Let me tell you of the nuisance of calling Reema on her cellphone multiple times, only to get no answer, my heart pounding harder with each nonresponse. ... And let me tell you the nuisance of a total stranger walking up to me at Virginia Tech and telling me Reema did not make it.

"Imagine that," Samaha said. "This fella was complaining about waiting a few minutes for a background check."

Ah yes, a few minutes for a background -- what a terrible nuisance!  Perhaps the legislators who voted to keep the "gun show loophole" in place would like to argue that point with Joseph Samaha?

Comments



The Samahas have been great (afausser - 1/19/2008 9:30:09 AM)
They really pulled together after the shooting. I'm proud to have known Reema, and while I don't know her family, it seems like they have been doing her memory great justice.


I like a lot of others worked on the Caputo Campaign in 2005 with Reema (Used2Bneutral - 1/19/2008 10:19:04 AM)
She was an absolute bundle of energy..... an amazing worker and one of those people you just never forget.... Her dad has been one of the pillers behind the movement to plug this hole in the laws. It was no accident that Chuck Caputo was one of the first to introduce these bills. OBTW, Chuck is a gun owner and a hunter.


The pro-gun opposition has been such callous apathy (mkfox - 1/19/2008 3:47:23 PM)
If GA opponents were concerned about a slippery slope of background checks between individual hobbyists, dealers or friends privately, then they could craft the law to indicate that it only applies to transactions as gun shows held in/at public-use facilities like convention centers and fairgrounds. Kudos to the Samahas and other VT victims and families for their efforts! This is a cause to champion, not a problem to manage.


As a gun owner with (thegools - 1/19/2008 10:10:03 PM)
two shotguns, two rifels, and two pistols, I can honestly say I have no problem with the Virginia background check.  I don't see any problem with having it at gun shows, though I am sure the dealers would complain the loadest because of the time they would have to put into it.

 People who are law abiding citizens have nothing to fear from the check.  It takes about 60 seconds to do.  The form you fill out takes about that long or perhaps twice that.

 So 2-3 minutes total.  No worries.



Thank-you to the Samaha family (bigforkgirl - 1/19/2008 10:57:59 PM)
Your work to save others in the face of such a horrible loss is a blessing to all of us.


Hey Lowell, I commend you (thegools - 1/24/2008 2:06:28 PM)
for keeping the focus on the victims of that crime and not the criminal.  Too often it is the criminal whose name is remembered and the victims are forgotten.