BRADY BILL Q&A
 
  1. The Brady Bill has a 7-day waiting period.
 
     FALSE. The 7-day waiting period is not a waiting period at all, but
            a permit-to-purchase law. Under the Brady Bill, you would
            not be allowed to purchase a firearm without first obtaining
            permission from the police department. In municipalities
            that have implemented similar laws, an anti-gun police chief
            can refuse to grant law-abiding citizens a permit to purchase
            with total impunity. In short, the Brady Bill turns your
            right to own a firearm into a priveledge to be granted or
            withheld by local police departments. Your gun dealer cannot
            sell a firearm until he receives "written verification" from
            the chief law enforcement officer.
 
  2. A 7-day waiting period would have stopped John Hinkley from buying
     a handgun.
 
     FALSE. The fact of the matter is that John Hinkley, the man who
            tried to assassinate President Reagan and who shot and
            severly injured the President's Press Secretary Jim Brady,
            had actually purchased two of the guns he was assembling for
            his assassination attempt in California-a state with a 14-day
            waiting period.
 
  3. The Brady Bill is a reasonable compromise with which we can all live.
 
     FALSE. Brady is not the "compromise" that Handgun Control claims it
            is. In fact, it is the cornerstone of a major campaign to
            restrict gun ownership in America to police, the armed forces
            and licensed security guards and shooting ranges. The law-
            abiding citizen would not be allowed to own a firearm under
            Handgun Control's agenda for America.
 
  4. Law enforcement professionals agree that 7 days is enough time to
     conduct an adequate background check.
 
     False. Dick Thornburg, Attorney General of the United States, has
            testified that the minimum time necessary to conduct an
            effective background check is 30 days, which he felt was an
            unreasonable time for a citizen to have to wait to purchase
            a firearm.
 
  5. Brady would lead to national gun registration.
 
     TRUE.  Federal agencies such as BATF have been waiting for a
            mechanism that could lead to a centralized registration list
            of all gun owners. The Brady Bill could provide them with
            that mechanism. Currently, gun registrations are maintained
            at the dealer from whom the firearm was purchased.
 
  6. Brady would not interfere with the law-abiding citizen's right to
     purchase a firearm.
 
     FALSE. Since most criminals buy their guns "on the street" from
            other criminals, there is virtually no chance that the
            Brady Bill will interfere with the criminal's ability to
            obtain a firearm. The only people that will be disadvantaged
            by Brady will be the law-abiding citizen. Under Brady, you
            and I will have no gun rights.
 
  7. The proposed 7-day waiting period would allow the police to screen
     out insane people and people convicted of crimes.
 
     FALSE. Current privacy laws affecting doctor-patient relations
            would prevent Brady from cross-referencing gun permits with
            medical reports. Current federal criminal records maintained
            for background checks list people charged with a crime as
            opposed to people convicted of a crime. This means that
            people charged but later judged innocent of a crime would be
            refused permission to purchase a firearm.
 
 
             Q&A by:
 
             Gun Owners of America
             8001 Forbes Place
             Suite 102
             Springfield, VA 22151
 
             (703) 321-8585