When members of Carolyn McCarthy’s family were among the victims of Colin Ferguson’s murderous rampage on the LIRR back in 1993, little did the former nurse know that she would be wind up spending the next two decades in Congress as a fierce gun control advocate. And while her opponents would lazily refer to her as a one-issue congresswoman, McCarthy was in fact a moderate who was involved with legislation pertaining to finance, health and education. Despite those facts, she became a lightning rod for the NRA and the far right, all the while never wavering from a call for more stringent and evenly applied gun vending and ownership regulations in the face of tragedies like Virginia Tech, Columbine, the Aurora Century movie theater and the Goleta postal facility shootings. But it would be the December 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook in Connecticut that prompted the nine-term congresswoman to not seek re-election. But given how others had been inspired by McCarthy’s efforts to fight on behalf of gun control, she’s been quoted as saying the movement is in good hands. Currently battling lung cancer, Carolyn McCarthy is leaving behind an impressive political legacy and should be thanked for her service. We at the Garden City Life wish her a speedy recovery.
— Dave Gil de Rubio
