The Brady Bill, a gun-control measure that requires a five-day waiting period and a background check for gun purchasers, has become law after seven years of attempts to get it passed.
The bill is named for James Brady, the presidential press secretary who was wounded when John Hinckley attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981.
President Clinton signed the Brady Bill into law at a White House ceremony with James and Sarah Brady looking on.
The passage of the Brady Bill was a stinging defeat for the National Rifle Association, which continued to argue that as a crime-fighting measure it would make little difference. The bill passed in the final days of the 1993 congressional session, after an outpouring of public support when it appeared the bill had stalled yet again in the Senate.
At year-end, a poll by the Times-Mirror Center for The People and The Press showed that crime had replaced the economy as the top issue in the minds of Americans.
