Compiled from the Southern News archives by Josh LaBella, Managing Editor
Brady calls for more gun control
The wife of the former presidential press secretary who was seriously wounded during an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan spoke to Southern about the need for better gun control.
Sarah Brady said she had a desire to end a problem which had blanketed society for decades. In a panel discussion hosted by the Women’s Studies Committee, a group of politicians, mayoral candidates, police officers, and Brady tried to generate interest in gun control among the nearly 300 listeners in the audience.
She said the fact that her husband is alive is a testament to the skill and dedication of the medical community but his debilitating injuries are proof of something else.
“That shot at all is also a testament to America’s weak gun laws,” said Brady. “John Hinkley would have never been able to purchase the Saturday Night Special he used on the president and my husband if the police has been able to run a background check.”
Brady said she supported the DeConcini bill which would ban assault weapons and semi-automatic rifles. She said the weapons were turning up in the hands of drug dealers and street gangs. According to Brady, the bill has a lot of support from the public but not from the National Rifle Association.
“Today the NRA has a lot of power,” said Brady, “but it’s beginning to wane.”
More from Fall of 1989 September:
• An engineering firm reports that a July 10 tornado did $4 million dollars in damage in Pelz Gymnasium.
• The university receives a $58,000 grant to continue a computer science joint research project under the Collaborative High Technology Program.
October:
• Twenty-two faculty members voluntarily take early retirement offered to all eligible state employees due to a $6.7 million dollar cut in Southerns budget.
• Two students face suspension or expulsion after an alleged kidnapping as part of a pledge process for the banned Phi Alpha Omega fraternity.
November
• The two students involved in the alleged kidnapping in October are sentenced to 700 hours of community service.
December
• A $25 million collection of Andy Warhol paintings is displayed in the student center.
