All sales at gun shows would be subject to instant background checks under a legislative proposal proffered yesterday by Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

"It is long past time to apply existing Virginia law to every firearm sale at a gun show," said Kaine, flanked by state legislators, local law-enforcement officers and family members of Virginia Tech shooting victims at state police headquarters in Chesterfield County.

Efforts to pass legislation closing the "gun-show loophole" have faltered in recent years, failing to make it out of the Senate or the House of Delegates.