Hate her........there is a poll though at the link below in case you want to vote. Newsday is a liberal rag, so don't be surprised if we lose.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscaro214478043oct21,0,5449965.story
McCarthy frustrated, but not deterred after shield law passes
Bill to Shield Gun Makers Is Approved
Oct 21, 2005
BY J. JIONI PALMER
WASHINGTON BUREAU
October 21, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The armor-piercing bullets from the pistol killed her husband and gravely wounded her son and catapulted Carolyn McCarthy from obscurity into Congress. For the past eight years, her very presence has reminded her colleagues of the perils of gun violence, and her voice has been among the most forceful in favor of gun control.
While she has experienced some successes since her crusade began - most notably passage of the assault weapons ban, perhaps the apex of the gun control movement - more often than not, she's struggled to halt rollbacks of restrictions.
"I hope that my efforts may have prevented one family from going through what I did," says McCarthy (D-Mineola), sitting at her desk in the Cannon House office building. "This job has given me the opportunity to fight for what I believe with all my heart and soul can make a difference. Anything worth fighting for means losing some battles."
The assault weapons ban, her key issue when she won her first term, lapsed last year with little hope of being resuscitated. And yesterday, the House passed legislation preventing lawsuits against gun makers or sellers.
A top priority of the National Rifle Association, yesterday's action was a long-sought remedy to stop a legal strategy similar to the one that was used to great effect against tobacco companies during the 1990s. Congressional approval of the measure - it passed the Senate during the summer and President George W. Bush is expected to sign it - is a high-water mark for gun rights advocates.
"I think there's been a major sea change on the issue," said Andrew Arulanandam, NRA public affairs director.
As the era of former President Bill Clinton began to fade, he said, the tide began to turn in favor of gun rights activists and swelled considerably after Bush was elected in 2000. Bush won narrowly in several states where former Vice President Al Gore's gun control stance was a perceived liability.
"It's a good time from a political perspective," Arulanandam said.
Though she'd cast the climate on Capitol Hill in different terms, McCarthy agrees that the immediate prospect for sweeping - or even incremental - gun control legislation is bleak.
"There are no two ways about it. This particular Congress, more so than ever, is pro-gun," McCarthy says.
It's frustrating, she admits, and that makes her mad. Her anger propels her to push back harder, even though it brings back the pain of Dec. 7, 1993, when Colin Ferguson opened fire on the 5:33 p.m. Long Island Rail Road train to Hicksville. He killed six people and wounded another 19 and was convicted in 1995.
"Let's face it, every time I fight this fight, it brings me back to a place that consciously I don't want to go," McCarthy says. "But I have to do it. If I'm not going to talk about it and be passionate about it, then should I be here? It really comes down to that. That is the reason I'm here. That's why I came to Congress and that's why I'll stay here."
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscaro214478043oct21,0,5449965.story