There have been many different gun control laws proposed in the past few years. One of the most recent and controversial ones has been the Brady Bill. The Brady Bill represented the first comprehensive, federal gun control in twenty-five years. The Brady Bill is an effective way of gun control with its background checks and five-day waiting period.The Brady Bill was originally named for anti-gun lobbyist James Brady. James Brady was Press Secretary to President Ronald Regan and was shot and paralyzed in an assassination attempt on the President. It took seven years to get the Bill passed through Congress till President Clinton could sign it into law in November of 1993, although the law would not become effective till February 28, 1994. The Bill required that states impose a five working day waiting period and a background check on all people wanting to purchase a handgun. During the five day waiting period local police officers in the buyers area were to, make a reasonable effort to determine if a buyer could posses a handgun. The Bill also moved the age of owning a handgun up to age 21 from age 18. An amendment to the Bill added that a federal instant background check system was to be install within five years of the Bill's passage to due away with the five-day waiting period. The system was installed but President Clinton wanted to keep the five-day period as a cooling off period for people who might be purchasing a gun for a passion crime(13). The Amendment also added that states can be exempt from the Brady Bill if they have there own waiting period or background check system in place already or during the life of the Bill. The effectiveness of the Brady Bill has been proven nationwide. From February 1994 to February 1998 the percentage of handguns used in homicides has dropped 31.9%. Although crime rates of crimes committed with handguns have risen a little in the United States from 49.8% in 1990 to 53.3% in 1997 the ...
