Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn Act to provide for a waiting period before the purchase of a handgun, and for the establishment of a national instant criminal background check system to be contacted by firearms dealers before the transfer of any firearm.
Enacted bythe 103rd United States Congress
EffectiveFebruary 28, 1994
Citations
Public law103-159
Statutes at Large107 Stat. 1536
Codification
Titles amended18
U.S.C. sections created921–922
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R.1025 by Charles E. Schumer (DNY) on February 22, 1993
  • Passed the House of Representatives on November 10, 1993 (238–189)
  • Passed the Senate on November 20, 1993 (63-36)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on November 22, 1993; agreed to by the House of Representatives on November 23, 1993 (238–187) and by the Senate on November 24, 1993 (passed by voice vote)
  • Signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 30, 1993
United States Supreme Court cases

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Pub.L. 103–159, 107 Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act, the Brady Bill or the Brady Handgun Bill, is an Act of the United States Congress that mandated federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States. It also imposed a five-day waiting period on purchases until the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) was implemented in 1998. Introduced by U.S. representative Chuck Schumer of New York, the Brady Act was a landmark legislative enactment during the Clinton administration. The act was appended to the end of Section 922 of title 18, United States Code. The intention of the act was to prevent persons with previous serious convictions from purchasing firearms.