John, in a moment I'm going to ask you to become a Brady Legacy Member to honor our founder Jim Brady's life-saving efforts to end America's gun violence epidemic. But first, let me tell you why this work is so personal to all of us here at Brady.

Jim Brady had achieved a lifelong dream when he was named White House press secretary. But on a gloomy March afternoon in 1981, a bullet tore through Jim’s brain during the assassination attempt on President Reagan. While the president survived without permanent injury, Jim was left with partial paralysis — and a determination to spend the rest of his days protecting others from gun violence.

Our Brady staff shares a lot in common with Jim. Like him, we're committed to ending the scourge of gun violence in this country. But most of us are also gun-violence survivors too, or have other personal connections to this issue.

Jim passed away in August of 2014 — a death that was ruled a homicide due to complications from his shooting 33 years earlier. But today would have been his 81st birthday — so I'm asking you to celebrate his life-saving work with us:

We're honoring Jim Brady's birthday — and his legacy of gun violence prevention work — by asking dedicated supporters like you to become Brady Legacy Members, renewing your commitment to ending gun violence for good. Right now, before Jim's birthday is over, will you donate any amount to claim your membership?

Being part of Brady's work means continuing Jim's passionate battle to save lives. That means fighting to get assault weapons off our streets, to ban untraceable ghost guns, to prevent gun violence before it happens — and yes, it absolutely means fighting to defeat the NRA.

The NRA has spent decades pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into blocking every single piece of common-sense gun safety legislation we propose. They even tried to block the Brady Bill. It took six votes over seven years and three presidencies for the Brady Bill to become law — but thanks to people like you embodying Jim's legacy and refusing to give up, things are finally changing.

Now is our moment to fight harder than ever and show that Jim's work isn't over until we achieve his ultimate goal: ending gun violence, defeating the gun lobby, and saving lives. But to do that, especially as we honor his birthday today, we need you to chip in to claim your membership in Jim's memory by donating right now:

Please, John: Donate any amount (we'd recommend $29 for Jim's birthday, Aug. 29) to become a Brady Legacy Member, honor Jim Brady's memory, and power the lifesaving work of ending gun violence and combating the NRA's millions!

Thank you,

Kris Brown
President, Brady