Brady Bill OKd by House; Gun Lobby Set Back

WASHINGTON — In a stunning defeat for the gun lobby, the House voted by a surprisingly large margin Wednesday to impose a seven-day waiting period on handgun purchases in 25 states that do not have such a requirement.

By 239 to 186, a bipartisan coalition approved legislation named after James S. Brady, the former White House press secretary wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. It had previously rejected an alternative backed by the National Rifle Assn. and President Bush.

The alternative called for an instant, point-of-sale telephone check of computerized criminal records, but gun control advocates called the plan a sham because it could take years to set up such a system.

In contrast, the so-called Brady bill, which allows police seven days to check existing files of largely non-computerized records, could take effect as soon as it is enacted. Its aim is to curb handgun sales to convicted felons and to provide a cooling-off period for gun buyers seeking to do harm on impulse.

California would not be affected by the measure because it already has a 15-day waiting period.

The decisive House action should give a huge boost to the legislation in the Senate, which is expected to begin hearings soon.

“This marks a turning point--the stranglehold of the NRA is now broken,” said Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a leader of the Brady bill forces. “Members know they can vote for the right thing and survive politically and the NRA’s aura of invincibility is shattered.”

Actually, the gun lobby already had been under siege in recent years. Despite NRA resistance, Congress banned armor-piercing, “cop-killer” bullets several years ago, and last year the Senate adopted a ban on certain semiautomatic assault weapons. The assault weapons measure died in the House, however.

In fierce lobbying on the Brady bill this week, the NRA and other gun-owner groups squared off against police, medical and gun control organizations. The most conspicuous, and clearly most effective, lobbyists were Brady--negotiating Capitol Hill corridors in his wheelchair--and his wife, Sarah, head of Handgun Control Inc.

“Without Jim and Sarah, this bill would have been defeated overwhelmingly,” said Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), a key supporter of the Brady bill, which was sponsored by Rep. Edward F. Feighan (D-Ohio).

Less than three years ago, the measure failed to win passage in the House by 42 votes. It picked up considerable steam recently when Reagan endorsed the bill and Bush, an NRA member, said that he might accept it if it were part of a comprehensive anti-crime package. However, Bush has threatened to veto the Brady measure if it is sent to him by itself.

The President is seeking to expand the federal death penalty, restrict appeals by Death Row inmates and ease curbs on the use of illegally seized evidence.

Brady, who along with his wife watched the vote from the House visitors’ gallery, gave a thumbs up sign in the final minutes when the bill was assured of passage.

“This is not gun control--it’s crime control,” he declared afterward. “Truth won out this time and the little guys won.”

He telephoned Reagan to tell him of the victory.

On a key, 234-193 vote rejecting the NRA alternative offered by Rep. Harley O. Staggers Jr. (D-W.Va.), the Brady forces added 40 Democrats and 56 Republicans from the last vote on the issue in 1988.

The vote to approve the Brady measure was heavily bipartisan, with most of the support coming from lawmakers representing urban and suburban districts in the North and East. There were 179 Democrats and 60 Republicans for the bill. Against it were 83 Democrats and 102 Republicans.

Opponents of the Brady bill said the Staggers alternative would be more effective in preventing criminals from obtaining handguns from licensed dealers.

Pointing to a successful computerized, instant-check system in Virginia, they insisted that it would take only six months to establish a national system.

Proponents of the bill said waiting periods in 1989 stopped 1,793 illegal purchases in California, 2,920 in Illinois and 961 in New Jersey.

Times staff writer William J. Eaton also contributed to this story.