NATION : Brady Pleads With ‘Gutless’ Congress for Gun Control Bill

Former White House Press Secretary James Brady, testifying from a wheelchair, called members of Congress “gutless” today for failing to pass a bill to control handguns like the one used to shoot him and former President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

“I have no choice but to be here today because too many members of Congress have been gutless on this issue,” Brady said in emotional testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

He remains partially paralyzed by gunshot wounds suffered when John Hinckley Jr., sprayed shots from a cheap handgun at Reagan outside a Washington hotel on March 31, 1981.

“Are you willing and ready to cast a vote for a common-sense, public safety bill endorsed by experts--law enforcement? Or are you going to continue to pander to the special-interest groups that whine about a little inconvenience and other such lame-brain foolishness?” he said.

Brady and his wife, Sarah, were testifying for a bill to require a nationwide seven-day waiting period for handgun sales so buyers could be checked by law enforcement agencies. She is head of Handgun Control, which lobbies for gun control.

He spoke from a wheelchair where he has largely been confined since being shot in the head by Hinckley in the 1981 assassination attempt.

Brady said the loss of independence from his injuries was worse than the intense pain he often suffers. “I need help getting out of bed, help taking a shower and help getting dressed. And damn it, I even need help to go to the bathroom,” he said.