Prominent US gun control activist Sarah Brady dies aged 73

Sarah Kemp Brady, who became the US's most prominent citizens' activist for gun control after her husband was shot in the head in the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, has died aged 73.

Sarah and her husband, James, crusaded against gun violence after he was shot during an assassination attempt on the former US president in 1981.

The Brady Campaign and Centre to Prevent Gun Violence, named in their honour, said they were "heartbroken" at the news of her death after a bout of pneumonia on Thursday, calling Sarah a "guiding light".

"Together with her husband Jim 'Bear' Brady, Sarah was the heart and soul of this organisation and the successful movement it has become today," the group's president, Dan Gross, said. "Our nation has lost a great hero, and I have lost a dear friend."

The group said the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, named after the couple and passed in 1993, has blocked an estimated two million prohibited gun purchases in the US.

The act imposed background checks and a seven-day waiting period on gun buyers.