Boos Force Bradys Off Stage in Vegas

Former presidential press secretary James Brady and his wife were booed off stage here Friday night by a large and unruly group of gun control opponents.

The group heckled and hurled insults at Sarah Brady throughout her 40-minute speech, forcing her to pause for several minutes until the crowd calmed down.

The Bradys cut short their address on gun control legislation when the heckling did not subside.

“You may think sitting there that you’re putting us through something, but this is nothing like we’ve been through in the past,” Sarah Brady told the hecklers as her husband sat beside her.

Most of the hecklers were in a group of about 200 gun control foes who marched and rallied on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus before the Bradys spoke.

Brady, 51, was shot in the head and paralyzed during the March, 1981, assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

Most of the crowd of about 500 appeared receptive to the Bradys’ talk but sat in pained silence during the repeated interruptions.

“I feel very sorry and I apologize to the university,” Sarah Brady said. “You invited us here with great hospitality and I know this group isn’t reflective of your student body.”

Her husband added: “Thanks for having us here and I hope the mob goes out and has a beer.”