By Brian Zanzonico
Like Detective Dillon Stewart of Elmont, McCarthy's husband, Dennis, lost his life to gun violence. Dennis McCarthy, 52, was one of six people shot and killed at random by Colin Ferguson aboard the 5:33 p.m. Long Island Rail Road train from Penn Station to Hicksville that day. Her son Kevin, who was sitting with his father, was shot in the head and left partially paralyzed. He was one of 25 people who survived their wounds.
Representative McCarthy can relate to what Stewart's widow, Leslyn, is going through. At the time of the LIRR shooting, McCarthy was a housewife living in Mineola. While grieving for the loss of her husband, McCarthy also had to stand by Kevin, her only child, while he recovered and underwent grueling rehabilitation. Leslyn has two small children, 6-year-old Alexis and 5-month-old Samantha, to raise.
"Unfortunately, right now, between the wake and the funeral and the overwhelming response, she's probably still in shock," McCarthy said of Leslyn. "She'll see in the next couple of weeks she'll find it harder with the holidays and the young kids."
McCarthy has tried to reach out to Stewart, but Police Benevolent Association officials have told her that Stewart is not yet ready to talk. The congresswoman knows, however, that the Stewarts will continue to get support from the police, friends, neighbors and strangers. "The one good thing is she'll find that people are tremendous," McCarthy said. "They make sure food's in the house and you have everything you need.
"That's how it was when I came back from the hospital. Then, after a while, there's points when the fact that you're alone sets in."
McCarthy was spurred by the LIRR massacre to run for Congress. An advocate of tighter gun control laws, McCarthy appealed to her representative at the time, Republican Daniel Frisa, to oppose GOP-led efforts to repeal the ban on certain assault weapons enacted as part of the 1994 congressional crime bill. Frisa refused and voted with his party, as the bill passed the House but never came up for vote in the Senate, according to cnn.com.
A registered Republican, McCarthy wanted to challenge Frisa in the 1996 primary, but Nassau County GOP officials wanted no part of such an effort. That opened the door for the county Democratic Party to offer her its ticket. Promising to fighting for gun control legislation with teeth, McCarthy became a nationally known figure almost overnight. Her story made her the sentimental favorite, and she earned 56 percent of the vote in ousting Frisa.
McCarthy said she has grown frustrated with Congress's refusal to adopt legislation that would make it harder for guns to make it to the streets. Two of her proposed amendments to legislation granting the gun industry unprecedented immunity from negligence lawsuits were rejected in October by the House Rules Committee. The first amendment called for the ban of all bullets known as "cop killers," which break into fragments on impact and can pierce most bulletproof vests. The second amendment would overhaul the National Instant Background Check System (NICS), which conducts background checks of potential gun buyers.
Currently, some 25 states have entered less than 60 percent of their felony convictions into the NICS, McCarthy said. Under her amendment, lawsuits would be permitted until the database includes at least 90 percent of the records necessary to conduct criminal background checks.
"It seems I'm the only voice on the floor talking about [gun control]," McCarthy said, calling the 109th Congress "an NRA [National Rifle Association] Congress." "It's a public health issue."
McCarthy said that Stewart's death proves that more needs to be done to keep guns out the hands of criminals like Allan Cameron, the man with a history of violence against police officers who was charged in Stewart's killing. He was previously charged with an assault on a Philadelphia police officer and has been fingered in the shooting of an off-duty NYPD officer last month.
As for Leslyn Stewart, McCarthy said she would still like to help her through this unimaginably hard time. "I hope I can talk to her and be there for her," she said.
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