Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (or, "The Brady Campaign") is a gun-control lobbying organization formerly named Handgun Control, Incoporated (HCI). It is named for former Reagan press secretary James Brady, who was wounded in John Hinkley's presidential assasination attempt on March 10, 1989.

HCI's founder and chairman, Nelson T. "Pete" Shields, characterized the organization's aims as follows:

"We're going to have to take one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily — given the political realities — going to be very modest. ... Our ultimate goal — total control of handguns in the United States — is going to take time. My estimate is from seven to ten years. The first problem is to slow down the increasing number of handguns sold in this country. The second problem is to get them all registered. And the final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition — except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors — totally illegal."

   (Source: "A Reporter At Large: Handguns," The New Yorker, July 26, 1976, pp. 57-58)