European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sarah Bradys Battle directing her anger at the weaklings in Congress by Philip Shenon new York times when the history of gun control legislation is written it May say that the moment the National Rifle association began to lose its Iron grip was the moment Sarah Brady emerged. At first she looked timid then determined and now with Victory in sight on a proposed waiting period for handgun sales she is not beyond threats. Quot my anger now is directed at the weaklings in Congress a mrs. Brady said. A my disdain is for the people who Don t have the guts to stand up for what a right. Quot we re going to get rid of  mrs. Brady the chairman of the lobbying group handgun control inc., has enlisted her husband James Brady. He was president Reagan a press Secretary when he was left brain damaged and partly paralysed by a $29 handgun used in the 1981 presidential assassination attempt. Brady was in effect silenced in the Reagan years. He remained on the White House staff and Reagan a support for the National Rifle association did not waver. But with Reagan gone from Washington gone too is Bradys reticence. He made his debut As a gun control activist in november on Capitol Hill. At a congressional hearing Brady said too Many lawmakers were Quot gutless on gun control. Quot they have closed their eyes to tragedies like mine Quot he said. Brady who has taken to calling the National Rifle association Quot the evil Empire Quot says he delights in his role As the gun lobby s worst Nightmare a living statement of the dangers of unrestricted gun ownership. Quot Sarah Brady is a very effective lobbyist a said James Jay Baker the chief Washington lobbyist of the National Rifle association which has 2.8 million members. Just How effective became apparent recently when the Senate voted 50 to 49, to approve a 3-year ban on the manufacture of several types of assault weapons. Mrs. Brady and her group had a role in the Victory for gun control lobbying lawmakers before the vote. Mrs. Brady is a former Public schoolteacher whose father an agent of the Fri wore a gun to work. Not lobbyist Sarah Brady and her husband James during a recent taping of a video for gun restrictions. She joined handgun control As a spokeswoman and lobbyist after the 1981 assassination attempt by John w. Hinckley jr., and she wages her Campaign from a modest office Only a few blocks from where Brady was nearly killed. The office Walls Are covered with photos of Brady in a wheelchair at White House gatherings with Reagan. Asked whether she and her husband were snubbed by the White House because of her stand on guns she said Quot never. I never got an indication of anything other than support from anybody at the White  Quot he a a kind Man Quot mrs. Brady said of Reagan and she praises president Bush As a family Friend. But with George Bush the politician mrs. Brady lets herself do combat. She does not like the word threat. Quot in be never used that exact word a she said. But in 1988, during the Bush presidential Campaign mrs. Brady a Republican warned Bush aides that she would denounce the candidate if he opposed a Bill in Congress the so called Brady Bill that called for a 7-Day waiting period before a handgun Purchase. Quot i told them that if he came out against the Bill that i would not remain silent Quot mrs. Brady said. Despite his years of opposition to gun control Bush a life member of the National Rifle association was the one who remained silent As the House took up the measure. It failed but by Only 24 votes. Now the Man for whom the Bill is informally named has been pressed into service in Hopes that the resurrected Bill will be passed this year and Brady has been on the phone with lawmakers who might provide swing votes. Quot we will pass this Bill Quot said rep. Edward f. Feighan an Ohio Democrat Quot primarily because of the determination of Sarah  her role As an activist has meant millions of dollars for her cause and thousands of new supporters. Handgun controls membership has More than doubled since she signed on to almost 250,000 from 100,000 in 1985. The group has a staff of 30 and a budget of nearly $6 million a year. She and her allies have rolled up victories in state Legislatures. New Jersey recently approved what is called the nation s toughest restrictions on Selling semiautomatic weapons. In March gov. George Deukmejian of California signed a Bill broadening a 15-Day waiting period to include All firearms purchases. In Virginia the state Assembly approved a Bill requiring background checks on people who sought to buy handguns and military style rifles. Mrs. Bradys family struggle gives her instant credibility. Major police organizations have lined up behind her. Supporters say that her Clear passion for the handgun Issue and her increasingly Blunt style Are winning Over the new audiences As she travels the country. She says her chief foe the Rifle association is a Quot horrible organization a they lie a  she is Little More charitable about its president Joe Foss a Quot a very misguided Man an extremist Quot a or about Charlton Heston the television spokesman for the association. Quot i saw Charlton Heston in Ben Hur or something and he was never one of my idols Quot mrs. Brady said. Quot i did no to think much of him Back then. Still Don  Foss refuses to single her out for criticism. As for her allies Quot i just say they Are misinformed the Way they come at it Quot he said. Quot they think that guns cause All the  unable to lash out at Brady because of the sympathy he inspires gun lobbyists have turned to mrs. Brady questioning whether she brought undue pressure on her wounded husband to join the Battle. John Michael Snyder a director of the citizens committee for the right to keep and Bear arms said Brady s emergence As a spokesman was part of the Quot rank emotional Appeal Quot that demonstrates the weakness of arguments for gun control. Quot i think they Are using Jim Brady Quot he said. Snyder insisted that he did not want to make a personal attack on mrs. Brady. But asked whether he thought she had duped her husband into enlisting in the Battle Snyder noted that while Brady was testifying in Congress last year his wife Quot was right there turning the pages of his  mrs. Brady bristles at the suggestion that she manipulated her husband saying she was careful never to Quot merchandise Jim Quot for the Sake of gun control. That she says explains Why Brady is Only now acknowledging his support for the cause. Quot he s an intelligent thinking human being and he makes his own decisions a she said. Quot i want him to be tie one who wants to do it. And now he wants to do it. And that makes me  monday june 25, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13