Sarah Brady
 |
front cover snapshot of A Good Fight, published in 2002 |
Sarah Brady (born
February 6,
1942) is the wife of former
White House Press Secretary James Scott Brady. She graduated from the
College of William and Mary in 1964. Her husband sustained a permanently disabling head wound during the
Reagan assassination attempt which occurred on
March 30,
1981.
Brady remained as Press Secretary for the remainder of Reagan's administrations, but this was primarily a titular role. Their lives were changed forever.
Sarah and James Brady became leading advocates of
gun control, which they believe will reduce gun violence in the United States. They later became active in the lobbying organization (named Handgun Control, Inc.) that would eventually be renamed the
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and they founded the not-for-profit
Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Among their projects is the
Legal Action Project of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. On
January 16,
2003, on behalf of the families of many of the victims of the
Beltway sniper attacks in 2002 who were killed (including Hong Im Ballenger, "Sonny" Buchanan, Jr., Linda Franklin, Conrad Johnson, Sarah Ramos and James L. Premkumar Walekar) as well as two victims who survived the shooting (Rupinder "Benny" Oberoi and 13-year old Iran Brown) filed a civil lawsuit against
Bull's Eye Shooter Supply of
Tacoma, Washington, and
Bushmaster Firearms, Inc. of
Windham, Maine, the gun distributor and manufacturer respectively that made the AR15 type rifle in the crime spree, as well as Bull's Eye owner Brian Borgelt,
John Allen Muhammad and
Lee Boyd Malvo. Muhammad, who had a record of domestic battery, and Malvo, a minor, were each legally prohibited from purchasing firearms. While they were each indigent, the suit aimed for the liability of the gun manunfacturer and its dealer.
The suit claimed that
Bull's Eye Shooter Supply ran its gun store in Tacoma, Washington, "in such a grossly negligent manner that scores of its guns routinely 'disappeared' from its store and it kept such shoddy records that it could not even account for the Bushmaster rifle used in the sniper shootings when asked by federal agents for records of sale for the weapon." It was alleged that the dealer could not account for hundreds of guns received from manufacturers in the years immediately prior to the Beltway sniper attacks. It was also claimed that Bull's Eye continued to sell guns in the same irresponsible manner even after Muhammad and Malvo were caught and found to have acquired the weapon there. Bushmaster was included in the suit because it allegedly continued to utilize Bull's Eye as its dealer despite an awareness of its negligent practices.
The case had been set for trial in April 2005. After losing several decisions as the case made its way through the courts, Bull's Eye and Bushmaster both contributed to an out-of-court US$2.5 million settlement. According to the Legal Center, it was agreed that "Bushmaster will also educate its dealers on safer business practices. The settlement is the first time a gun manufacturer has ever paid damages for negligence leading to criminal violence and the largest settlement by a gun dealer ever."
After the settlement was announced,
WTOP radio in
Washington, D.C. reported that Sonia Wills, mother of sniper victim Conrad Johnson, said her family took part in the lawsuit more to send a message than to collect money from Bushmaster Firearms and Bull's Eye Shooter Supply. "I think a message was delivered that you should be responsible and accountable for the actions of irresponsible people when you make these guns and put them in their hands" she said (see [
1]).
Sarah and James Brady were each awarded a doctorate degree (of Humane Letters) by
Drexel University in
1993. The work of the Bradys continues in
2005.
In 2002, Sarah Brady and Merrill McLoughlin wrote
A Good Fight, Published by Public Affairs, ISBN 1586481053. According to a review, the book is about her entire life, including a battle with
lung cancer. "Much more than a polemic about the importance of gun control,
A Good Fight is a wonderfully readable personal story about an ordinary woman coping with extraordinary events and becoming extraordinary in the process." [
2]
A controversy occurred after Sarah Brady recounted in her book that she had purchased a
Remington .30-06 rifle with a scope and safety lock at a
Lewes, Delaware, gun shop, for her son, James Scott Brady, Jr., "as a
Christmas present" in
2000. According to Delaware Justice Department spokeswoman Lori Sitler, this purchase was apparently a "
straw purchase". Under the gun laws, her son, as the intended recipient of the weapon, should have undergone the required
background checks, although he has no criminal record.
According to a quote in the
New York Times, "We hope that it's innocuous and there's been no laws violated," said James Jay Baker, chief lobbyist for the
National Rifle Association. "It's obviously interesting that Sarah would be purchasing firearms of any kind for anybody, given her championing of restrictive guns laws for everyone."
Ms. Brady was not indicted by any grand jury, state or federal, in the incident.
* http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcbogus.html
