James S. Brady, Former Reagan Press Secretary, Shooting Survivor and Gun-Control Advocate, Dies

Posted by Paula Antolini

James S. Brady died Monday, August 4, 2014, at age 73, at a retirement community in Alexandria, Va. The immediate cause of death is not known but Brady suffered a series of health issues after being shot in the 1981 presidential assassination attempt, according to a statement from a family spokeswoman, Gail Hoffman.

Brady was a former White House press secretary who was severely wounded in the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan. The shooting took place at 2:30 p.m outside the Hilton Hotel on Connecticut Avenue NW in Washington, where John W. HInckley Jr. shot Brady and three other people including President Reagan, Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy and Washington Police Officer Thomas Delahanty. There were six bullets shot from the .22-caliber Rohm RG-14 revolver that Hinckley used, which Hinckley had bought at a pawn shop in Dallas for $29. Hinckley said he hoped the Reagan assassination would impress actress Jodie Foster.

Brady had originally asked one of his aids to accompany President Reagan on the routine assignment to speak to a gathering of the AFL-CIO but at the last minute he changed his mind and attended.

Brady returned to work in November 1982 but on a limited basis, as his partial recovery took years but his physical limitations remained. Because of this, his wife Sarah Brady was the face of the gun control movement using her husband’s story to get support for legislation.
Due to his injuries that left him partially paralyzed, decades later James Brady continued to play a supporting role to his wife’s gun violence prevention cause, who was a prominent gun-control advocate.

He leaves legacy of service through the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly known as Handgun Control, Inc.) and the 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, also known as “the Brady Bill” which was named in his honor. This bill imposed a background check and a waiting period to buy a handgun from a federally licensed dealer.

In February 2000 a dedication ceremony was held for the new James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, named in his honor.

Photo shows the plaque on the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington.