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American Morning
Anniversary of Reagan and Brady Shooting
Aired March 28, 2001 - 11:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go down to Washington. We've been standing by for this live event. And it's just about to get underway.
This is Sarah Brady. And you see there seated to her left and your right in the wheelchair there is Jim Brady. He was Ronald Reagan's press secretary. They're coming up on another grim anniversary on March 30th. That is the anniversary of the shooting of Ronald Reagan and Jim Brady.
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SARAH BRADY, WIFE OF JIM BRADY: ... ever of taking on the NRA and winning. But we did, and we did win.
It hasn't been an easy fight. But I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that not a single one of us regrets taking up this fight.
In 1993, with the help of those folks here today and many others, Congress passed the Brady law, which requires background checks to prohibit gun sales to criminals and others, including those with a known history of mental illness.
And the Brady law, as we all know, has worked. It has saved lives. It has saved criminals from buying guns. And put an end to the shameful system of lie and buy in which criminals could lie about their records and walk out of a store with a gun. And the next year, we passed the assault weapons ban, which took military-style assault weapons off our streets and made them easier -- made them safer, excuse me -- for law enforcement.
And in recent years, we have really begun to do well at the polls. In 1998, we defeated 11 out of 12 of our dangerous dozen. These were candidates who opposed gun control.
Last year, we spent a record $5 million and beat nine out of 12 of the dangerous dozen. And we won in two pro-gun western states, Colorado and Oregon, where voters overwhelmingly approved statewide ballot initiatives to close the gun show loophole.
Basically whenever we target a race, we do well. And that's because Americans overwhelmingly support sensible gun policies.
Still, as the recent shootings have brought home, too many Americans are still dying from gunfire. More than 30,000 Americans are killed by firearms every year. That includes 10 young people every day.
Regrettably, President Bush and some in Congress apparently believe there is nothing Congress can do related to guns to prevent these deaths. The president and members of his administration talk about teaching children morals and values, which we agree totally with. But they do not acknowledge what is staring them in the face. Millions of American children have too easy access to too many guns.
Next month is the second anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School. And Congress has still done nothing to prevent such shootings. In a moment, these Congressional leaders here will outline some of their plans for the coming year. But I wanted to take a minute to outline some sensible laws that could and should be passed this year.
Closing loopholes in our laws such as the gun show loophole, which as you all know, allows buyers at gun shows to avoid background checks. And this closing of the loophole will definitely save lives.
We need child safety locks for every gun. And we need to prohibit the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons to anyone under the age of 18.
It's hard still I think for Jim and me to believe that 20 years has past. It hasn't been easy for us. But it has been a privilege to work with these folks in Congress and with the millions of supporters throughout our country who struggle to make America safer from gun violence.
And now -- oh, I wanted to mark another anniversary that I heard about today on the radio, and I had forgotten today was a an anniversary. Ten years ago today, President Reagan, it was in 1991, President Reagan endorsed publicly the Brady bill. And he lobbied hard for both it and the assault weapon bill.
We want this to be a nonpartisan, common sense fight. And it's going to be.
And now, it's my honor to introduce Senator Dick Durbin.
HARRIS: We've been listening here as Sarah Brady has been recounting what she has called the victories of the '93 Brady law, the Brady law that went into effect that year, a law named after her husband. As we said, we're coming up on the thirtieth anniversary on the day that he was shot along with President Ronald Reagan.
Sarah Brady here this morning says that the Brady law has worked, and has saved lives, and stopped the system of lie and buy. She says it's regrettable President Bush and Congress don't believe that there's anything they can do to stop kinds of incidents we've seen recently with school shootings. They say that it's time to close loopholes for the gun shows, also time to have a national law for child safety locks, and stop the sale of semiautomatic weapons to anyone under the age of 18. We will go back to that press event once Jim Brady speaks. Stay with us.
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