Reagan's would-be assassin to be freed
July 27, 2016
US District Judge Paul L. Friedman decided that John Hinckley Jr. no longer posed a threat to society and can return to society. For more than a year the 61-year-old Hinckley has been spending 17 days a month at his mother's home in Virginia - he will now live there full-time.
In 2003 he was first allowed day visits to his family home, which is in a gated community and overlooks a golf course. That increased to three-day visits in 2006.
Now Hinckley "is permitted to reside full-time in Williamsburg, Virginia, on convalescent leave, which shall begin no sooner than Aug. 5, 2016," Friedman said in a 14-page order on Wednesday. His mother's Williamsburg home is about 150 miles (240 km) south of Washington.
On March 30, 1981 Hinckley shot Reagan and three others as they left a Washington hotel. He said he shot the president to impress the actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was infatuated.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity, but doctors have said for some time that he no longer suffers from mental illness.
Reagan died in 2004 at the age of 93.
A gun control advocate
James Brady, the president's press secretary, was more gravely injured in the shooting, and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He died in 2014 at the age of 73. His death was ruled a homicide, as a result of the gunshot wound he received in 1981.
After the shooting he and his wife Sarah became advocates for gun control. The 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, more commonly know as the Brady Bill, which required limited background checks on would-be gun buyers, was named after the former press secretary.
Friedman's order comes with a series of restrictions. Hinckley will be required to see his psychiatrist in Washington at least once a month and notify the Secret Service when he travels for all appointments. He can drive a car but with limits. And the Secret Service will follow him periodically.
Still, life in Williamsburg will likely be busy for Hinckley.
He has been volunteering at a church and a local mental hospital.
He also attends meetings for people living with mental illness, as well as talks at a local art museum and concerts. His hobbies include painting, guitar and photography.
He also wants a job.
"I don't like flipping around the TV, I want to do things," a court document quoted him saying.
He also has said he wants to "fit in" and be "a good citizen."
bik/kms (AP, Reuters, dpa, AFP)