Sarah Brady, chairman, Handgun Control, Inc.,
James Brady, former White House Press Secretary

SARAH BRADY: Jim, we must have made a wrong turn. This isn't San Diego.

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JAMES BRADY: Sarah, I told you, this is the Democrat convention.

SARAH BRADY: You're right, and we thank you deeply for this wonderful invitation.

Fifteen years ago, Jim was White House press secretary. Our son, Scott, who's up here, was just two years old. All our dreams had come true.

But then one rainy afternoon in March, our dreams were shattered by an assassination attempt on President Reagan. President Reagan was shot, and so was Jim. We almost lost Jim that day, and we almost lost the president.

But thanks to the heroism of the Secret Service and the determination of the physicians and staff at George Washington Hospital, Jim lived. And so did the president, thank God.

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But our lives would never be quite the same. All it took was one gun, one bullet, and one man who should never have owned a gun.

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Every year in this country, nearly 40,000 Americans are killed with a firearm. More than 100,000 are wounded. Every two hours another child is killed with a firearm, and with each death and each wound, another American dream, another American family is shattered.

This must stop.

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Jim and I decided that we should do something about it -- not as Republicans, but as Americans. I became chair of Handgun Control and Jim and I joined together in speaking out against gun violence.

We've traveled from coast to coast during the past 10 years. We've met thousands of gun violence victims and their families. Their stories continue to break our hearts, especially those involving the children. That's why we supported legislation that would require a waiting period for the purchase of a handgun.

The idea was simple. Establish a cooling off period and give police the time they need to conduct a background check on the buyer.

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Introduced in 1987, the Brady Bill was an overnight success. Every major law enforcement group endorsed it. So did former presidents Reagan, Carter, Ford, and Nixon. In fact, nine out of 10 Americans supported a waiting period. It just made sense.

But year after year, the gun lobby defeated the Brady Bill. The National Rifle Association said that seven days, or even seven hours, was just too long to wait to buy a handgun.

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SARAH BRADY: It was an inconvenience. Well, listen, our family can tell the gun lobby a little bit about inconvenience.

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And will..

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... and about the despair and the pain that can result from a gunshot wound. But don't take our word for it. Ask anyone whose life has been touched by gun violence.

In 1991, both houses of Congress passed the Brady bill. Oh, Jim and I were elated. But the gun lobby and the threat of a presidential veto again killed the Brady bill. We quickly learned the value of having a president who is really committed to putting an end to gun violence.

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And four years ago the American people elected just such a president.

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President Bill Clinton in his first State of the Union address told Congress, if you pass the Brady bill I'll sure sign it.

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After seven long years, Congress finally passed the Brady bill and President Clinton kept his promise. He signed it into law.

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Thank you, thank you Mr. President. That moment was the proudest moment of our lives. And let me tell you why. Since the Brady law went into effect on February 28, 1994, the Brady law has stopped more than 100,00 convicted felons and other prohibited purchasers from buying a handgun.

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One hundred thousand. Today, and everyday, the Brady law is stopping an estimated 85 felons from buying a handgun.

But we need to do more. We should, as President Clinton proposed today, stop people convicted of domestic violence from buying a handgun.

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Jim and I are proud to join with you tonight in saluting the great job that President Clinton has done in fighting crime and violence. He's a hunter...

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... and he's a sportsman, but he understands the difference between a Remington rifle and a AK-47.

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And he knows that you don't go hunting with an Uzi.

SARAH BRADY: Mr. President, you deserve our thanks.

JAMES BRADY: And a big bear (PH) thumbs up.

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SARAH BRADY: But gun violence is not a Democrat or a Republican problem; it's a problem that effects each and every one of us. Yes, it was a Democrat Congress which passed the Brady bill, and a Democrat president who signed it, but we could never have passed the Brady bill without the support of a lot of Republicans, including former President Ronald Reagan.

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And we could never have passed it without the support of the law enforcement community.

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But now we need your help. This battle is not about guns, it's about families, it's about children, it's about our future. You can't have stronger families without safer children. The gun lobby likes to say that Jim and I are trying to take guns away from hunters and sportsmen. The gun lobby is wrong. To the hunters and sportsmen of America we say, keep your guns. But just give us the laws that we need to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and out of the hands of children.

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In 1968 Senator Robert Kennedy expressed his great optimism about ending gun violence in America. He told a crowd of supporters in Los Angeles that we're a great country, an unselfish country, a compassionate country. Moments later an assassin's bullet took his life. But he was right then and he is right now.

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SARAH BRADY: We are a great country. We're a compassionate country. Jim and I are full of hope. With all of us working together, we can restore peace in our neighborhoods. We can eliminate random gun violence and we can preserve the American dream for all of us. But please don't do it for Sarah and Jim Brady.

JAMES BRADY: Do it for all our children.

END