Former White House Press Secretary and southern Illinois native James Brady has died.
Thirty-three years ago Brady was injured by a bullet intended for President Reagan. He died today at his home in Virginia. Brady was born in Centralia and graduated from the University of Illinois. He also taught at SIU before going into public relations.
After he was crippled by a brain injury in the 1981 assassination attempt, he and his wife Sarah Brady advocated for the Brady Bill, requiring a five-day wait to buy a handgun. That law was enacted in 1993, and it expired in 1998. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence continues to this day.
The assailant, John Hinckley Jr., was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He is under institutional psychiatric care, though as the years have passed, he has been granted visits to the home of his parents.
