During a White House ceremony attended by James S. Brady (left) President
Bill Clinton signed the Brady handgun-control bill into law. The law requires
a prospective handgun buyer to wait five business days while the authorities
check on his or her background, during which time the sale is approved or
prohibited based on an established set of criteria.

In 1981, James Brady, who served as press secretary for President Ronald
Reagan, was shot in the head by John Hinckley, Jr., during an attempt on
President Reagan’s life outside a hotel in Washington, D.C. Reagan himself
was shot in his left lung but recovered and returned to the White House
within two weeks. Brady, the most seriously injured in the attack, was
momentarily pronounced dead at the hospital but survived and began an impressive recovery from his debilitating brain injury.

President Ronald Reagan (center) moments before he was shot in an assassination attempt, March 30, 1981.