Gun-purchase background checks in Virginia soared on the day after a gunman killed 26 people at a Connecticut elementary school.
The Free Lance-Star reports that Virginia State Police processed 4,166 gun-purchase background checks Saturday. That's up 42 percent from the same day in 2011 and the highest volume of transactions since the program began in 1989.
Background checks on the day of the shootings totaled 2,770, up 26 percent from the same day in 2011.
State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller says the checks reflect the number of customers. They don't indicate how many guns might be sold.
Virginia Citizens Defense League president Philip Van Cleave expects high gun sales to continue.
He says gun owners tend to stock up when the president and congressional leaders talk about gun control.
