Brady Gun Bill Passed by House : Crime: Measure would require five-day wait and background check for handgun purchases. Concern over violence may boost its chances of Senate approval.

The House on Wednesday decisively approved the much-heralded Brady bill, which would require a five-day waiting period and a background check for handgun buyers.

On a 238-189 vote, the House sent the long-contemplated legislation to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain fate despite a strong anti-crime mood in Washington, strong support from President Clinton and bipartisan backing by Senate leaders.

Although the bill was first introduced more than six years ago, it faced virtually unrelenting opposition from the politically potent National Rifle Assn. and only gradually gained more backers as gun violence grew to frightening dimensions nationwide.

This year, its chances of enactment seem brighter because of Clinton’s endorsement and the determination of lawmakers in the House and Senate to dramatize their concern over violent crime.

“This is just the beginning,” said Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), chief advocate for the bill, after its approval by the House.

The bill, named for former White House Press Secretary James S. Brady, who was severely injured in a 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, would require a would-be purchaser to wait five days before taking possession of a handgun while police complete background checks designed to ferret out buyers with criminal records or mental problems.

Under an amendment attached to the bill, the waiting period would end after five years, when law enforcement officials are expected to be able to make instant checks by computer. Once they have that capability, buyers of rifles and shotguns also would be required to undergo the checks.

Although amendments were sharply limited during the House debate, Senate opponents of the bill have indicated that they will try to add dozens of other controversial gun-control provisions, possibly jeopardizing the bill’s passage.

Supporters acknowledged that the legislation would be no panacea for curbing crime but contended that the experience in California and four other states with waiting periods showed that the laws could be effective in preventing ex-convicts and deranged individuals from buying handguns.

“It’s a national disgrace (that) we haven’t passed the Brady bill 10 years ago,” Rep. Butler Derrick (D-S.C.) said. And Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said: “This is the first step down a long road to stop the proliferation of handguns. We must act to stop the bloodshed, to stop the killing.”

Meanwhile, the Senate again delayed consideration of a separate omnibus crime bill in an effort to reach agreement on shortening debate and setting a date next week for a vote on its final passage.

The delay began Tuesday night, when Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced an amendment to outlaw the sale of an array of assault weapons, and Senate Republicans--many staunch gun-control opponents--threatened a filibuster to prevent a vote on the larger bill. There still was no sign of an accord Wednesday, despite daylong discussions.

Brady, who was disabled by the would-be assassin, lobbied lawmakers from a wheelchair in a corridor outside the House chamber and said he was euphoric over the House vote. His wife, Sarah, who also has worked hard for its passage, said afterward:: “We’re very, very happy.”

Opponents, contended, however, that the bill is purely symbolic and would do nothing to deter criminals from buying black-market guns. Instead, they argued, it would only restrict law-abiding people who want a weapon for self-defense.

“This is a feel-good bill and won’t do anything but hurt the honest gun owner,” Rep. James V. Hansen (R-Utah) argued.

A total of 184 Democrats and 54 Republicans voted for the measure, while 119 Republicans, 69 Democrats and one independent voted against it.

In an earlier vote on whether to send the legislation back to committee, however, the margin was much narrower, 229 to 200. Eighteen Republicans shifted sides to support the measure on final passage.

The amendment to end the waiting period after five years was sponsored by Rep. George W. Gekas (R-Pa.) with NRA backing. It was approved, 236 to 198, despite protests by the chief sponsors of the legislation that it may take more than five years to get crime records into condition so that instantaneous checks could be made.

Under the original bill approved in committee, the waiting period would have continued until at least 80% of state crime records were available for immediate checks on would-be buyers.

Rep. Jack Brooks (D-Tex.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, argued that if credit card purchases could be checked instantly at a store counter, similar checks should be possible within five years on prospective gun buyers.

The House also voted, 431 to 2, for another amendment that would require police to provide a written explanation for rejecting applications from would-be handgun buyers.

But it rejected a third amendment, also backed by the NRA, that would have nullified state waiting periods for handgun purchases if they exceeded the five-day federal requirement. The vote on that proposal was 257 to 175.

The House and Senate had approved the Brady bill in 1992 as part of comprehensive crime legislation, but that measure died when Senate Republicans filibustered in the closing days of the 102nd Congress and prevented the final version of the legislation from coming to a vote.

The dispute in the Senate over Feinstein’s amendment occurred after an unexpected 51-49 preliminary vote in support of her amendment to ban the manufacture, sale or possession of rapid-fire assault weapons.

Her amendment was pending when the Senate recessed Tuesday night as opponents of the measure met to discuss whether to mount a filibuster against the assault weapons ban or accept their defeat and go on to pass the crime bill.

“The mood is to hang very tough,” said Feinstein, still elated by her success in getting a slim majority of the Senate on record on her side of the issue.

Three Senate veterans who never had voted for an assault weapons ban before--Democrats Wendell H. Ford of Kentucky and Max Baucus of Montana and Republican John C. Danforth of Missouri--voted with Feinstein to block an attempt to sidetrack her amendment.

Some Republicans said the likely passage of the ban on assault weapons would open the door to other highly controversial amendments dealing with guns and limits on Death Row appeals by prisoners.

Vote on Handgun Waiting Period

Here is how members of the California delegation voted on the Brady bill, which imposes a five-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns:

Democrats for--Becerra, Beilenson, Berman, Brown, Condit, Dellums, Dixon, Dooley, Edwards, Eshoo, Farr, Fazio, Filner, Hamburg, Harman, Lantos, Lehman, Matsui, Miller, Mineta, Pelosi, Roybal-Allard, Schenk, Stark, Torres, Tucker, Waters, Waxman, Woolsey.

Republicans for--Baker, Gallegly, Horn, Huffington, Thomas.

Democrats against--Martinez.

Republicans against--Calvert, Cox, Cunningham, Doolittle, Dornan, Dreier, Herger, Hunter, Kim, Lewis, McKeon, Moorhead, Packard, Pombo, Rohrabacher, Royce.

Republicans not voting--McCandless.