Clinton Praises Brady Gun Law, Urges Extension
President Clinton came to California on Tuesday touting the Brady Act, a gun control measure that he said has blocked more than 470,000 sales by licensed dealers to felons, fugitives and stalkers in the last six years.
The president announced the figure as he flew to Los Angeles for a gala dinner benefiting the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, a Los Angeles-based organization.
Clinton said that in the last year, instant background checks on people trying to purchase guns have blocked 160,000 “restricted buyers.”
Those numbers “represent lives saved, injuries avoided, tragedies averted,” the president said. “They are a measure of what we can do to reduce gun violence--and a measure of what still needs to be done.”
Clinton called on Congress to extend the background checks, ban violent juvenile offenders from possessing guns when they turn 21, require child safety locks on handguns and prohibit imports of high-capacity ammunition clips.
The Brady law was named for Jim Brady, President Reagan’s press secretary, who was injured in the 1981 assassination attempt.
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