HARRISBURG -- Former Gov. Tom Ridge came to the capital yesterday to stump for presidential hopeful John McCain.

Mr. Ridge met with 40 top Pennsylvania Republicans at the Harrisburg Hilton, then spoke with reporters who questioned him on his support of Mr. McCain's bid and his involvement on a Washington committee empaneled to make recommendations on campus security following last month's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.

That panel meets this morning for the first time.

"I don't think we're going to be looking for villains. The primary villain is dead," Mr. Ridge said of Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32, then shot himself. "He was a tormented young man who never should have had access to a weapon."

More thorough background checks and a prohibition on gun sales to the mentally ill might have prevented the shooting, said Mr. Ridge, who advocated for change. A Virginia district court had ordered psychiatric hospitalization for Mr. Cho in 2005.

"If through a regular court process there is a ruling that a person is a danger to himself or others, that should be a disqualification for getting a firearm," he said. "I don't think that's an unreasonable lesson to learn from this tragedy."

The panel is expected to review the timeline of the Virginia Tech shooting rampage and to recommend security measures for campuses nationwide, Mr. Ridge told reporters.

Mostly, though, Mr. Ridge wanted to talk about Mr. McCain, the Republican U.S. senator from Arizona who is making his second bid for the White House.

In the first go-round, Mr. Ridge backed President Bush.

"It's easy for me to support [Mr. McCain now] because I like the way he conducts his politics," Mr. Ridge said. "John's experience, background and personal and political courage is what our next president needs."