The government mental hospital where John Hinckley Jr. has spent most of the last 30 years since he shot and tried to kill President Ronald Reagan is asking a federal court to allow Hinckley 's eventual release to live with or near his aging mother in Williamsburg , Virginia . The prosecution , in its own filing with the court on Friday , described Hinckley as `` a man capable of great violence '' and said his mental condition has not improved to the point of eliminating concerns `` that this violence may be repeated . '' U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman has scheduled up to a week of court hearings on the issue to start November 28 , the Monday after Thanksgiving . Hinckley is now 56 . He was committed to St. Elizabeths Hospital in 1982 after a jury found him innocent by reason of insanity in the shooting of President Reagan and three others , including the president 's severely wounded press secretary , James Brady . The hospital 's lawyers and doctors filed their motion under seal , withheld from the public , when they asked at the end of this past July that Hinckley eventually be placed on `` convalescent leave . '' But government lawyers quoted the hospital 's proposal , making it part of the court 's public record , in their response Friday in opposing his release . The day that changed presidential security forever . According to the government , the hospital has asked first for a series of extended visits to Williamsburg and then , `` it be given the sole discretion to place Hinckley on convalescent leave in his mother 's hometown . '' His widowed mother , Jo Ann Hinckley , is now 85 . She lives in a gated resort development not far from the James River in Williamsburg . Hinckley has been allowed several visits with her for up to a week and a half at a time over the last couple of years . But he has been required to carry a GPS tracking device when away from the house and the Secret Service has kept watch on his movements . That surveillance would be loosened under the hospital 's proposal . Gallery : The attack on Ronald Reagan . Under the hospital 's current proposal , Hinckley would be permitted eight longer visits to Williamsburg , the first two for 17 days each , the rest for 24 days each . After that , the prosecution filing said , the hospital wants to release Hinckley on leave `` without any further review '' by the court . Hinckley was a college dropout , drifting around the country , living off his family 's money , when he waited for President Reagan to walk out of a Washington hotel where he had been speaking on March 30 , 1981 . Hinckley emptied his six-shot .22 revolver at the president . He wounded Brady , a policeman and a Secret Service agent before his last shot ricocheted off the president 's armor-plated limousine and struck Reagan beneath his left armpit as he was being shoved into the car by other agents . The bullet penetrated within an inch of the president 's heart . One lung flooded with blood . Reagan lost half his body 's blood supply . Doctors said that had the Secret Service not rushed the president to a nearby hospital as quickly as they did , he might well have died . Brady suffered a serious brain injury and never was able to return to his White House duties . In his hotel room that day , Hinckley left behind a letter addressed to child actress Jodie Foster , with whom he was infatuated . It began : . `` There is a definite possibility that I may be killed in my attempt to get Reagan . '' Hinckley wrote he was doing this to try to win her love . Foster would later say she did n't even know who Hinckley was . A federal judge committed Hinckley to St. Elizabeths Hospital after a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity in the spring of 1982 . Doctors have told the court in previous hearings that Hinckley 's mental problems are in remission . Government lawyers disputed that in their latest filing , saying : . `` There is recent evidence of deception toward his treating physicians as well as narcissism , both of which are significant risk factors for future violence . ''
Hospital requests longer visits to U.S. , then convalescent leave . Government argues he is still `` capable of great violence '' Man was committed in late November after shooting John Hinckley Jr. , six others . Judge to hold hearings in 1982 .