The current version of the cards is revamped, as the campaign now allots points instead of grades. Martina Leinz, president of the Virginia Chapters Million Mom March of the Brady Campaign, said that the change occurred to allow more specification "so that you can really see where states are falling short."

Leinz said she is very disturbed and very disappointed at Virginia's ranking, "particularly in light of what happened at Virginia Tech and the way they've been voting this year so far in the legislature." However, she stated that she was not at all surprised.

"If (the legislature) would have closed the gun show loophole, it probably would have moved Virginia considerably more toward the middle of the pack than one of the lower states," Leinz said. "We would have really improved our standings, because it's a very simple act that can have a significant impact."

The gun show loophole bill, sponsored by Sen. Henry Marsh (D–Richmond), was killed by a 9-6 vote in the Senate's Courts of Justice Committee on Jan. 23. The legislation would have required background checks for all firearm purchases from unlicensed dealers at gun shows.

Mike McHugh, president of Virginia Gun Owners Coalition, said he thought such legislation would not have been the proper response to the Virginia Tech shootings.

"The criminals will always have guns," McHugh said. "They'll either steal them in parking lots or restaurants in Virginia or in campuses, or they'll get somebody to buy it for them on the black market. All this regulation and political legislation does nothing to stop crime. All it does is harass law-abiding citizens."

Abby Spangler, founder of protesteasyguns.com, had a differing opinion on gun laws in response to April 16.

"It's an outrage that Senator Edwards, your legislator there, voted against closing the gun show loophole, which basically is like rubbing salt in the wounds of Virginians, who have been traumatized by this massacre that happened in our very own state," Spangler said. "It's a travesty for all Virginians and our police that the gun show loophole was not closed in this legislative session."

Leinz said there is no legislation that could increase Virginia's scorecard result in this session, but there are bills that could lower the state's standing if passed. One such bill would remove university presidents' current discretion to ban guns from campus.

"At this point, it's mostly playing defense," Leinz said.

Leinz added that the Brady Campaign monitors states' rankings year-round, so any action taken this session will be reflected in next year's rankings. One action that could affect the numbers is the recently introduced national legislation to close the gun show loophole. Sponsored by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D–N.J.) and Jack Reed (D–R.I.), the bill would override Virginia legislators' decision to deny the loophole bill.

The scorecards grade states across five categories of laws: banning military-style assault weapons, child safety, curbing firearms trafficking, strengthening Brady background checks and making it more difficult to carry guns in public places.

Virginia scored no points for strengthened background checks and banning assault weapons. Out of 20 possible points for child safety, the state scored two. Virginia scored 10 points out of 35 for curbing firearms trafficking and six out of 10 for making it harder to carry guns in public places.

The Brady Campaign used the Legal Community Against Violence's research on gun laws in its publication, "Regulating Guns in America," and on its Web site. Laura Cutioletta, staff attorney at LCAV, said the campaign used the information a little differently than those at LCAV would have.

"I would say overall I was pleased (with the states' rankings), but I have to admit, our two organizations highlight different policy areas, so we wouldn't necessarily have ranked them the same way, but that's simply because we focus on different areas."