Virginia governor tightens gun sales

RICHMOND, Va., April 30 (UPI) -- In response to the Virginia Tech shootings, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has revealed mental illness will now be factored into gun purchases in the state.

Kaine has instructed all executive branch agencies to immediately start listing individuals who mentally ill in the database for gun purchases, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Monday.

The order states that no distinction will be made about whether the person is ordered to undergo inpatient or outpatient treatment.

The order came after a mentally ill gunman, who was able to purchase two guns, killed 32 students and faculty on the Blacksburg, Va., campus.

"The database used to scrutinize the histories of those purchasing guns should include any determination that someone is mentally ill and so dangerous to himself or others as to warrant involuntary treatment," Kaine said. "The key factor should be the danger finding, and not whether the judicially-mandated treatment is performed in an institution or on an outpatient basis."

There is also a federal law prohibiting the sale of guns to anyone that's been "adjudicated as a mental defective," the New York Times said.