Coordinated efforts to create a national background check system did not materialize until after the March 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan . White House press secretary , James Brady , was seriously wounded in the attack , and afterward his wife , Sarah Brady , spearheaded the push to pass the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ( Brady Act ) of 1993 . When signed into law in November of that year , the Brady Act included a GCA amendment that created the National Instant Criminal Background Check System ( NICS )
assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan
Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan
National Instant Criminal Background Check System