Sarah Brady, the widow of former White House press secretary James Brady, died of pneumonia on Friday at age 73, NPR reports.
Brady became one of the country's most influential gun control activists after her husband was shot in the head during the 1981 assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan. James Brady survived, but used a wheelchair until his death in August 2014.
"Just over 34 years ago, (Sarah Brady and I) shared an experience that bonded us for life, as we comforted each other in a tiny, windowless office at the George Washington University Hospital Emergency Room, while awaiting word about whether our husbands would survive the horrific gunshots that had brought them there," former first lady Nancy Reagan said in a statement on Saturday. "Sarah and Jim's path from that day on was, of course, much more difficult than Ronnie's and mine, but Sarah never complained. I found her to be a woman of immense courage, strength, and optimism."
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Legislation Sarah Brady pushed following her husband's shooting has prevented the sale of more than 2.4 million firearms, "to criminals and other dangerous people," according to her organization, The Brady Campaign.
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