Eight days after two journalists were fatally shot during a live broadcast at a Virginia resort, several Democratic legislators produced a petition with nearly 28,000 signatures supporting expanded background checks for gun buyers.

The northern Virginia lawmakers unveiled the petition Thursday at a news conference in Arlington. Del. Patrick Hope, who organized the petition drive, said he will submit legislation in the 2016 General Assembly to require universal background checks for gun purchasers - a proposal that has been rejected in previous sessions. Currently, private sales - including those conducted at gun shows - are not subject to background checks.

"We can no longer just stick our heads in the sand," Hope said in a telephone interview. "I know universal background checks won't prevent every tragedy. But we also know that people are dying every day."

Hope and like-minded lawmakers face an uphill struggle in the General Assembly. Since the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, legislators have actually worked to loosen gun regulations - allowing concealed weapons permit holders to carry guns in bars and repealing the state's one-handgun-a-month purchase limit, for example.

http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/ap/article_24628925-b782-51b0-bd26-54db59b99fb8.html