Carolyn McCarthy, former Nassau U.S. Rep. and gun safety advocate, dies at 81

Carolyn McCarthy, a former Democratic U.S. Rep. and gun safety advocate, died Thursday. She was 81.

McCarthy represented New York’s 4th Congressional District from 1997 to 2015. She was motivated to run for office to implement stricter gun control legislation after a December 1993 shooting at the Garden City Merillon Avenue Long Island Rail Road stop killed her husband, Dennis, and severely injured her son, Kevin.