Shooting in Arizona, memories of LIRR

The shooting in Arizona on Jan. 8 that left six dead and 14 injured, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords, brought back memories for Rep. Carolyn McCarthy.

“The parallel for whatever reason probably hit my family stronger than some of the other shootings,” McCarthy said.

In 1993, Colin Ferguson opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train. Six people died in the incident, including McCarthy’s husband, Dennis. Her son, Kevin, was seriously injured. Frustrated by a lack of gun control laws, McCarthy ran and won the 4th Congressional seat in 1997 and is currently serving her seventh term.

McCarthy said Giffords, who is still in critical condition, is “one of those people you gravitate to.”

“She’s a very happy person,” said McCarthy. “She was just someone who you want to know.”

McCarthy said she is working on a law that would ban the sale of large capacity clips, clips that can hold between 15 and 33 bullets.

“I still have a hard time understanding why someone would need the large capacity clip,” McCarthy explained. In the worst case scenario, McCarthy said, having fewer bullets give civilians a better chance to survive.

She added that she hopes this will change some of the language used in politics.

“I would like to see Congress and politicians turn down the rhetoric,” she said. “That doesn’t mean we should not have healthy debate, that’s what makes our democracy strong.”

Doctors believe that Giffords will recover and McCarthy was looking forward to working with her again.

“There’s always hope,” McCarthy said. “No one gave my son a chance to live. He lived. You can’t give up hope until you know what the final results are yet.”

However, she cautioned from personal experience, recovery is a long ordeal.

“Many things can still happen,” she said. “We pray and hope that she will come through all this in a speedy recovery. When we say a speedy recovery, it may be several months, it may be a year.”