Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 1, 1993 TAG: 9312010138
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Cox News Service
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Ending a long struggle to pass the most far-reaching gun control measure in two decades, the president urged, "We cannot stop here" and pledged to move on to banning many assault weapons.
At the president's side, Jim Brady flashed a thumbs up sign at the final enactment of the waiting period law that is named for him.
"What we are witnessing today is more than a bill signing, it is the end of unchecked madness," said Brady, a former White House aide who was gravely wounded in 1981 when John Hinckley tried to assassinate then-President Reagan.
"Twelve years ago, my life was changed forever by a disturbed young man with a gun," said Brady. "Until that time, I hadn't thought much about gun control or the need for gun control.
"Maybe if I had, I wouldn't be stuck with these damn wheels," he added wryly as he looked down at his wheelchair.
His wife, Sarah, who led the crusade for the Brady bill for nearly seven years, countered assertions by the National Rifle Association and others that a waiting period will be of little practical value.
"The Brady bill is not just symbolism," she said. "It will begin to make a difference."
Also at the packed East Room ceremony, a 27-year-old Atlanta woman who lost her husband in a random shooting said that the law might prevent similar cases.
"I can't bring my husband back," said Melanie Musick, her voice soft and quivering. "But I do know that the Brady bill is going to save other people's lives."
Greg Musick was shot three years ago while he was having lunch in the food court of an Atlanta mall. The gunman had been a mental patient who avoided Atlanta's 15-day waiting period by crossing the city limits to DeKalb County to buy a revolver the day before he sprayed the mall with bullets.
The Brady law goes into effect in 90 days, when all states must institute a waiting period to give gun-store owners time to make background checks and turn down buyers who have felony convictions or a history of mental illness.
Nearly half the states already have waiting periods. The longest is a 15-day delay for gun sales in California. Virginia provides for instant background checks by computer.
Despite doubters who charge that criminals still will get guns, Clinton delivered an impassioned defense of the new measure.
"Don't let anybody tell you that this won't work," he said, recounting the story of a friend in Arkansas who sold a gun to a customer who turned out to be an escaped mental hospital patient.
"Twelve hours later, six people were dead and my friend is not over it to this day," said Clinton. "Don't tell me this bill will not make a difference."
The president prodded Congress to continue its anti-crime effort by completing a crime bill next year that would ban certain types of assault guns and outlaw gun ownership for minors.
by CNB