Loose VA Gun Laws Complicit in VT Shootings? (or Virginia is for gunrunners?)

According to this article [1] in The UK's The First Post [2], Virginia's lax gun laws make Virginia an easy place to get a gun. In light of the happenings in Blacksburg, is it too easy?

As Nino Brown (as played by Wesley Snipes) said in New Jack City, "ain't no UZIs made in Harlem".  But you see tons of guns in the streets.  I always wondered how they got there.  Just roll down I-95 to Virginia...

Would it been that hard to check Mr. Cho's background before they sold him the guns?  I would like to hear a sensible rationale for not checking.  I would think that gun enthusiasts would like this because if they are legitimate and have nothing in their record that prohibits them from buying guns, they have nothing to fear or worry about.  If they aren't legit, no gun.  Guns are a public safety issue, this is why they fall under jurisdiction of law.  It's not just some social wedge issue that doesn't effect people who aren't part of a certain lifestyle (I am a heterosexual man. Gay marriage neither helps nor hinders my life. ).  But, if some mentally unstable guy comes into work blasting (or worse, into my kid's school), that affects me.