President Clinton Signs Brady Bill into Law (1993)
On November 30, 1993, the Brady Bill was signed into law by the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton. President Clinton, a supporter of gun control, signed the bill into law in the presence of James S. Brady, the leading proponent of gun-control in the 1980s.
The Brady Bill allowed for authorities to perform background checks on prospective buyers of hand guns. The law mandated that there be a five day waiting period to allow authorities to accomplish this task. The sale of the hand gun would be approved or denied, depending on the information obtained in the background check.
James S. Brady was no stranger to the White House when he observed President Clinton sign the bill into law in 1993. Brady had previously been President Ronald Reagan’s press secretary. In 1981, Brady was shot in the head in the chaos surrounding an assassination attempt on the President. Brady was even pronounced dead at the hospital before his miraculous recovery and survival of a significant injury to his brain.
It was this event in his own personal life that caused Brady to become such a staunch advocate for gun-control legislation in the 1980s. In 1987, he introduced the Brady Bill into Congress. Despite the intense opposition to the bill, largely based on the right of the American people to bear arms, President Clinton signed the Brady Bill into law just six years later.