That's The Way It All Became the Brady Bill
On this day November 30th in 1993, 17 years ago today, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, better known as the Brady Bill. It was an Act of Congress that instituted federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States.The bill went into effect on February 28, 1994. The Act was named after James Brady, who had been White House Press Secretary for President Ronald Reagan and who was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. during an attempted assassination of President Reagan on March 30, 1981. Brady was shot in the head and suffered a serious wound that left him partially paralyzed for life.
Hinckley bought the gun used in the shooting at a pawn shop in Dallas the previous October 13th. He provided a false home address on the form and showed an old Texas driver's license as "proof" that he lived there. Hinckley had been arrested four days earlier at the Nashville airport when he tried to board an American Airlines flight for New York with three handguns and some loose ammunition in his carry-on bag. The same day, President Jimmy Carter was in Nashville and scheduled to travel to New York. Hinckley had been under psychiatric care prior to his gun purchase.
Brady's wife Sarah became active in the gun control movement after the shooting. On February 4, 1987, the Brady Act was introduced in the U.S. Congress for the first time. In an editorial in the New York Times on March 29, 1991 President Reagan wrote that the Brady Act would provide a crucial "enforcement mechanism" to end the "honor system" of the 1968 Gun Control Act and "can't help but stop thousands of illegal handgun purchases."
Jim and Sarah Brady were guests of honor when President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Act into law on November 30, 1993. At the bill signing ceremony, President Bill Clinton said, "If it hadn't been for them, we would not have passed the Brady Law."
Following is a YouTube video of portions of the signing ceremony for the bill:
Hinckley bought the gun used in the shooting at a pawn shop in Dallas the previous October 13th. He provided a false home address on the form and showed an old Texas driver's license as "proof" that he lived there. Hinckley had been arrested four days earlier at the Nashville airport when he tried to board an American Airlines flight for New York with three handguns and some loose ammunition in his carry-on bag. The same day, President Jimmy Carter was in Nashville and scheduled to travel to New York. Hinckley had been under psychiatric care prior to his gun purchase.
Brady's wife Sarah became active in the gun control movement after the shooting. On February 4, 1987, the Brady Act was introduced in the U.S. Congress for the first time. In an editorial in the New York Times on March 29, 1991 President Reagan wrote that the Brady Act would provide a crucial "enforcement mechanism" to end the "honor system" of the 1968 Gun Control Act and "can't help but stop thousands of illegal handgun purchases."
Jim and Sarah Brady were guests of honor when President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Act into law on November 30, 1993. At the bill signing ceremony, President Bill Clinton said, "If it hadn't been for them, we would not have passed the Brady Law."
Following is a YouTube video of portions of the signing ceremony for the bill: