Thanks,
Posted on 10/17/2003 11:27:23 AM PDT by Brian S
By DEVLIN BARRETT Associated Press Writer
October 17, 2003, 12:56 PM EDT
WASHINGTON -- Nearly a decade after her husband was killed and her son badly wounded in a shooting rampage on the Long Island Rail Road, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy is headed back into battle over the same piece of legislation that propelled her to Congress.
McCarthy, 59, decided to run for office after her then-congressman, Republican Daniel Frisa, voted in 1995 to repeal the assault weapons ban. Running as a Democrat, she unseated him the following year.
As Congress approaches the 10-year expiration of the ban, the widow advocate turned Washington lawmaker is gearing for the political fight to extend the ban, even as state Republicans say a serious challenger is preparing a campaign to unseat her in 2004 in the tightly-balanced Long Island district.
The congresswoman is serving her fourth term as representative of Long Island's 4th district, which covers parts of Nassau County.
Republican sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mayor James Garner of Hempstead, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, plans to run against her next year.
McCarthy, a former nurse, fought fervently for gun control after her husband was killed aboard the commuter train on Dec. 7, 1993. While she has always campaigned on bread-and-butter issues like improved health care and education, she is most closely identified with the gun control movement.
"She's our moral compass, our leader ... a guiding light," said Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "To have someone who can look other members (of Congress) in the face and talk to them from a very personal experience, that can make all the difference. ... Her district should be extremely proud."
When asked what has changed in the battle over the Second Amendment since she arrived in Washington, McCarthy smiles ruefully and recounts a story about how she watched the 1972 Robert Redford film, "The Candidate," soon after she won her first election.
"It was probably the saddest movie that I have ever watched, mainly because when that movie was made, all of the issues are exactly what we're dealing with today," she said. "It was gun violence, the choice issue, the environment, education."
But the issue of gun control is still central to her work.
She begins each working day by lighting a candle in her congressional office, a ritual that began when she first came to Washington. At first, the candle's light symbolized all shooting victims, she said, and now represents victims of senseless violence, including those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.
Unlike most members of Congress from New York, McCarthy does not have a relatively secure district. By her own count, there are only two seats that could go either Democrat or Republican _ hers and that of Rep. Timothy Bishop, a freshman who won in 2002 by a scant 3,000 votes.
McCarthy said her record on health care and education, and her upcoming trip to Iraq _ as part of an all-female bipartisan delegation seeking to ensure Iraqi women's inclusion in the country's new government _ show she is far more than a one-issue lawmaker.
But Republicans are eager to challenge her, and Garner, a long-serving mayor whose national profile has increased dramatically since taking the helm of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, has told fellow Republicans he will run.
Garner, when reached for comment, would not say definitively whether he will run, but said, "I certainly plan on making an announcement in November."
The Republican sources said Garner, 58, has already had discussions to gather support from national leaders, including Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., head of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
One Republican officeholder, who declined to give his name, said Garner, who is black, highlights the Republican party's effort to attract more minority voters.
But McCarthy seems undeterred by the opposition and expressed confidence in her record. She also said he was not afraid of ruffling feathers as the gun control battle heats up again.
"I'm already getting colleagues saying, 'You're not going to bring this up again, are you?"' McCarthy said. "I say, "Yeah, I am."'
Yeah, in disarming the rest of the law abiding populace so THEY might never have a "CHANCE" to save their OWN lives.
BEHOLD! The mind of the Defenseless
Thanks,
psychosis [sy.KO.sis] (n).
“The inability to distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary. Psychosis is a term used to describe a severe mental illness. Psychotics are characterized by a variety of symptoms that most people consider abnormal. These include experiencing delusions, such as the notion that one is being persecuted or conspired against. Psychotics may see things which don't actually exist and hear Voices (i.e. God) when no one is around. They often exhibit compulsive, irrational, ritualized behavior, esp. when such behavior serves no purpose or is even harmful or disruptive to those around them. They show no concern for others but may exhibit total self-centered behavior. Includes sociopathy, schizophrenia.”
DSM-IV
People like MS. McCarthy are not only dangerous, they are historically ignorant.
As an example let me cite two differant remodeling jobs I was involved in, one on Cape Cod in the eighties and the other in Maine a few years ago.
On both jobs we found old newspapers in the walls, the Cape papers from the mid-thirties and the Maine papers from the early twenties.
The front page stories could have been written today: Trouble in the Middle East, taxes and regulations increasing and race problems.
All the same issues that we're dealing with today.
Oh yeah. And the Red Sox lose.
One civilian with a CHL, or better yet exercising "Vermont Carry", could and probably would have saved her husband.
Well, not quite single handedly. She did provide the "spark" that got the legislation passed however. The law was passed *before* she was elected, but her testimony was pivotal.
BTW, the gun was just as illegal in the glovebox of her truck as it would have been in her purse. However the chances of being caught were much lower. She was worried about losing her license to practice her proffession. BTW. Her name was then Dr. Suzanna Gratia, now Gratia-Hupp. Nice lady, I've met her once.
That's assunming it was loaded, or the ammunition was also accessable. You can not carry a loaded handgun in your vehicle in Texas, without a CHL permit of course. How they read "but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms" to allow them to regulate (read BAN) keeping them in a vehicle, I'll never understand completely.
Certainly we sympathize with her, but if memory serves correctly, the perp used a handgun , not an assault rifle. Plus, he was already forbidden from owning weapons since he had a history of mental problems.
Gun laws don't address the problem of gun violence. Never have.
She also was arrested for drunk driving, and claimed before the charges were dismissed to have had only a couple glasses of wine. yeah right.
Unlike Ms. McCarthy, she ran for and won a seat in the state legislature, and single-handedly worked to install a CCW law in TX. Her parents were murdered right in front of her while her gun was stowed in her vehicle in the parking lot--where it was legally required to be.Well, not quite single handedly. She did provide the "spark" that got the legislation passed however. The law was passed *before* she was elected, but her testimony was pivotal.
She's been working hard to help the rest of the country, as well. She was up here in Minnesota to testify before our legislature, during our fight, and I know we're not the only state she's done that in.
And the speech she gave for the SAS's at the first Million Moms March was unforgettable.
She gave a talk at a gun rights rally in Dayton, OH, too. I spoke at the same one, and had a chance to talk with her. Really nice lady.
Well...I DO feel bad for the victims...but in the case of hubby....isn't it remotely possible that with a wife like HIS...he wanted this outcome? Naaaaaaa, divorce would have been more sensible.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.