which a bill becomes a law through compromises made by diverse and sometimes conflictinginterests in this country. There have been many controversial bills

passed by Congress, but among all, I have taken a particular interest in the passage of the

Brady bill. When the Brady debate was in full swing in Congress about three years ago, I was still back in my country, Japan, where the possession of guns is strictly restricted by laws. While watching television news reports on the Brady debate, I wondered what was making it so hard for this gun control bill to pass in this gun violence ridden country. In this paper, I will trace the bill's seven year history in Congress, which I hope will reveal how partisan politics played a crucial role in the Brady bill's passage in this policy making branch. The Brady bill took its name from Jim Brady, the former press

secretary of President Reagan, who was shot in the head and partially paralyzed in the

assassination attempt on the president in 1981. This bill was about a waiting period on handgun purchases allowing police to check the backgrounds of the prospective buyers to make sure that g

issue to another vote during the year even though it would mean the

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checks in its fight against the passage of the Brady bill. The battle

prompted by the loathing of most senators to come back from their

other Republican opponents fired at Biden with accusations that he and

Consequently, the Senate approved the conference report by unanimous

major obstacle in the newly-reelected President Clinton, who has

handguns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them.3" Aside from the firm support from the public, the bill also gained the backing from the former president Reagan who, in a tribute to James Brady, said that it is "just plain common sense that there be a waiting period to allow local law enforcement officials to conduct background checks on those who wish to buy a handgun."4 This Reagan's remark was significant since he had long been a member of the NRA. On April 10, the Subcommittee approved to send the bill to the Judiciary Committee by the vote of 9-4. The votes were clearly divided along the party line with the sole exception of F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI), one of the few GOP supporters of the bill, who joined the Democrats to vote for it. In the meantime, the lobbying by both sides had intensified. The NRA claimed that the bill went against the principle of the Constitution, pointing out the Second Amendment which says: "A well regulated Militia, being n!

wrote in his letter to the NRA chief lobbyist Tanya Metaksa: "As long

Some common words found in the essay are:
Gekas R-PA, Attorney General's, Rifle Association, Stevens GOP, United Congress, Southern Democrats, Leader Dole, Kennedy D-MA, Sarah Brady, Leader Mitchell, brady bill, waiting period, gun control, check system, instant check, instant check system, conference report, gop opponents, judiciary committee, handgun purchases, passage brady bill, bill hr, gun control legislation, period handgun purchases, waiting period handgun,
Approximate Word count = 4236
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page double spaced)