RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Relatives and friends of several victims of the Virginia Tech shootings on Tuesday urged lawmakers to strengthen background checks on those who wish to purchase guns, but met resistance from one lawmaker who said doing so would threaten civil liberties.

The debate took place during the sixth annual AP Day at the Capital, a gathering of journalists who cover government and the General Assembly. The April shootings at Virginia Tech were a key area of discussion at the event, which also included a panel on mental health care reform.

Before he killed 32 people, Seung-Hui Cho was able to pass a weapons background check and buy two guns despite having been deemed mentally defective by a Virginia court. In response, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed an executive order requiring that anyone ordered by a court to get mental health treatment be added to a state police database of people barred from buying guns.

But even if that order had been in place before the shootings, it would not have prevented Cho from acquiring guns by several other means that require no background check in Virginia, such as at gun shows -- vast firearms bazaars where scores of people sell or swap firearms.

Closing the so-called gun show loophole was a key issue for many of the victims' loved ones who attended Tuesday's event.

"What is the fear of someone having to go through the background check?" Joseph Samaha, whose daughter Reema was killed in the shootings, asked panelist Del. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, who opposes closing the loophole.

Hurt said requiring background checks at gun shows would infringe on a person's fundamental right to possess a firearm and gives the government too much control. He also noted that Cho didn't purchase his weapons at a gun show.

Fellow panelist Gerald Massengill, who chaired the independent panel that investigated the shootings, argued that closing the loophole is a key step in preventing future tragedies.

"Had Cho been in the state police databank and not been able to buy firearms from a licensed firearms dealer ... he very simply would have gone to a gun show and purchased the firearms without a background check," Massengill said.

But Hurt said lawmakers should be focusing on other issues, such as reforming Virginia's mental health laws.

That comment drew a frustrated response from Lu Ann McNabb, a close friend of the Samahas.

"Guns are an issue," she told Hurt. "We cannot divert it away. And I think the General Assembly has got to look at it. Not necessarily just the gun show loophole but all the issues involved with guns. And it's very disconcerting to me that you and other members of the General Assembly want to push it aside and focus just on the mental illness."

Mike White, whose daughter Nicole was killed in the shootings, is a gun owner himself and cannot understand why anyone would object to keeping weapons out of the hands of dangerous individuals.

"I hate to hear people hide under the veil of individual rights," he said during a break. "What about the individual rights of the 32 students and teachers that lost their lives? What about my rights to be a grandparent? To give my daughter away in marriage? All of that was taken away from me."

Virginia's labyrinthian mental health system was the subject of a separate panel Tuesday. University of Virginia law and psychiatry professor Richard Bonnie, chairman of a commission analyzing Virginia's mental health laws, opened the discussion with an acknowledgment that "Nobody is happy with the current situation."

He also noted the ball was clearly dropped in the case of Cho, who was ordered to receive outpatient mental health treatment but never did.

Bonnie, whose commission will release a preliminary report later this month containing recommendations for reform, urged lawmakers to develop a long-term strategy and commit to a complete overhaul of the system, rather than dwelling on quick fixes.

The problems panelists cited include lack of funding, hospital bed shortages, misinterpretation of privacy laws and the state's civil commitment process, by which potentially dangerous people are forced into treatment.

Under current law, someone can be committed only if they present an "imminent danger" to themselves or others. Since the shootings, some have argued that the standard for commitment should be less stringent.

Panelist Sen. Janet Howell, D-Reston, said she is "quite certain" that Virginia lawmakers, who are increasingly aware of the need for mental health reform, will take action on the commitment issue this session.

Howell also noted that Virginia ranks ninth in the nation in available resources, yet ranks 33rd for investment in mental health services.

"It's a moral imperative that we respond to this now," she said. "We cannot wait any longer."

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)