James and Sarah Brady
Sixty days after becoming White House press secretary in
1981, James Brady was shot by John Hinckley Jr. during an
assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Since
leaving the White House, he has worked to prevent handgun
violence with his wife, Sarah, chair of Handgun Control,
Inc., the nation's largest citizens' gun control lobbying
organization. In 1993, President Clinton signed the "Brady
Bill" into law, which requires a five-day wait and
background check on all handgun purchases through licensed
dealers. The law has prevented hundreds
of thousands of previously convicted felons and mentally
ill people from purchasing guns.
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