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I wouldn’t like to see dealers scared out of business, of course, but I do have some reservations about firearms sales over the Internet. Your average bricks-and-mortar gun dealer will risk being sued for discrimination (which there ought to be a law exempting gun dealers from, until we can get rid of it for all private businesses) before he’ll sell a gun to someone who is obviously hot under the collar and ranting about people he wants to kill. Gun dealers and private re-sellers of guns should be the on the front lines of preventing obvious crazies from getting guns, but if the only contact they have with a buyer is an online form showing the buyer’s name, the name of the item chosen, the credit card being used to pay for it, and shipping address, there’s just nothing to go on. The Virginia Tech guy just seemed like any random Asia guy living in Blacksburg, Virginia. But every single person who’d actually met Cho in person found him to show signs of severe mental instability.

I don't think you understand how internet "gun sales" work. All firearms purchased from a licensed dealer have to have an ATF Form 4473 filled out and a background check done. "Buying" a gun on the internet still requires this to take place before the buyer can take possession of the gun. If the internet seller is in state, the buyer would be required to go to the licensed premises in person to fill out the form, provide ID and have the NICS check done. Once the background check is approved, the buyer can take possession of th gun. If the internet seller is in another state, the firearm must be sent to a licensed dealer in the buyer's home state, where the above must take place.

As for this latest shooting, the shooter had a valid FOID card in teh state of Illinois, so so much for gun licensing preventing crime.

Gun dealers and private re-sellers of guns should be the on the front lines of preventing obvious crazies from getting guns, but if the only contact they have with a buyer is an online form showing the buyer’s name, the name of the item chosen, the credit card being used to pay for it, and shipping address, there’s just nothing to go on.

While you can buy a firearm on the Internet, it must be shipped to a regular local licensed dealer, from whom you must pick it up after doing all the paperwork that you would have had to do in order to buy direct from him. In other words, it's no different from going to a dealer, wanting a gun he doesn't have in stock, and having him order it for you