    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [November 2, 1993]
    [Page 1881]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1881]]

    Exchange With Reporters Prior to a Meeting With James and Sarah Brady
    November 2, 1993

    Crime and Handgun Legislation

        Q. Jim, is the crime bill going to pass?

        The President. He asked you. Yes, it's going to pass. What do you
    think, Jim? He wants to know if the crime bill's going to pass and the
    Brady bill. That's what Terry [Terence Hunt, Associated Press] asked
    you.

        Mr. Brady. Well, this is your house, so I'll defer to you, sir.

        The President. I already said yes. You answer it.

        Q. In that case, Mr. President, I'm wondering if you could tell us
    what the Brady bill would do in urban areas, like the District of
    Columbia, where the guns that kill people are not sold so much in shops
    but more on the street, where there's not much of a waiting----

        The President. But they all do come out of regular manufacturers,
    and they come into the country. And what the Brady bill would do, it
    would make uniform the losing battle a lot of States are fighting now,
    because they're all alone, to at least check those people who do buy
    from registered gun dealers. And there are an enormous number of people
    who do have criminal backgrounds, who have mental health problems, who
    don't even meet any kind of age requirement. We would be able to check
    all that uniformly, nationwide. We find now that in a lot of States that
    have pretty strict gun laws, an enormous percentage of the guns that are
    confiscated by law enforcement officials every year come from other
    States that don't.

        So we do have some evidence that these laws work, but it's not the
    end-all and be-all. We've got a couple hundred million guns out there.
    There are a lot of other problems that we need to deal with in terms of
    minors in possession, in terms of assault weapons, in terms of the way
    the permitting process works for Federal arms dealers.

        But the Brady bill is the first step. And we are going to pass it
    this year, I believe, because the American people finally have heard the
    long call of Jim and Sarah Brady. They've been out here on this for
    years and years and years, oftentimes alone with no support. And
    finally, thanks to the leadership of the Members of Congress who are
    here and others, we're going to be able to put it over.

        Q. Does it go far enough?

        Q. [Inaudible]--enough votes----

        The President. To pass it? I believe we clearly have the votes to
    pass it if we can get it to the floor. Mr. Schumer got it out of the
    House subcommittee last week, and we're hoping that the House committee
    will mark it up this week. Senator Biden's going to bring it up separate
    from the crime bill so that no one will be able to hide behind other
    issues in trying to find clever ways to filibuster it. And I compliment
    him on that. And I just believe that the time has come.

        And you read all these stories, like the story that was in the
    Washington Post yesterday of the children planning for their funerals. I
    think it's going to be very difficult for the Congress to justify
    continued inaction on what millions of Americans believe is the number
    one problem in their lives.

        Q. [Inaudible]--on the Newsday report saying that--[inaudible]--
    campaign?

        The President. First of all, we did nothing improper, and I have
    nothing to say about it.

    Note: The exchange began at 11:10 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. Former White House Press Secretary James Brady was wounded in the
    1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. His wife, Sarah,
    was head of Handgun Control, Inc. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of this exchange.