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CNN Sunday Morning
Mission to Remember
Aired December 28, 2003 - 07:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Ten years ago, a lone gunman began firing indiscriminately at people aboard a Long Island commuter train. Six people died, 19 were wounded.
Today, Caroline McCarthy has made it her mission to get assault type weapons off the streets. Our Jane King has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every morning, for the past 10 years, she starts her day by lighting a candle.
REP. CAROLINE MCCARTHY: It reminded me the flicker, how life is so fragile.
KING: New York Congresswoman Caroline McCarthy remembers how her own life was suddenly shattered by a senseless shooting.
MCCARTHY: And I remember standing out on the driveway screaming Dennis was dead, Kevin was shot in the head.
KING: Her husband, Dennis, and her son, Kevin, were among 25 people shot by a lone gunman on a packed rush hour commuter train that evening.
MCCARTHY: Colin Ferguson, I will give you no hatred.
KING: The man who killed six people and wounded 19 others in what's known as the Long Island Railroad Massacre is now serving six consecutive life sentences. The horrible event that night has transformed McCarthy from a quiet nurse and mother into a gun control activist.
MCCARTHY: I decided that I was going to make a difference so no other family would have to go through this.
KING: She ran for Congress and won.
MCCARTHY: Colin Ferguson didn't miss one person with the bullets that he used.
KING: Serving her fourth term in Congress now, her next battle is to extend an assault weapons ban law that will expire next fall. But she may be outgunned by her political rival, the NRA.
WILLIAM LAPIERRE, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: This legislation was lied into law 10 years ago. Politicians were told that these guns on the ban list were more powerful, they made bigger holes, they were machine guns, they shoot faster, they spray bullets, none of which is true.
KING: Some critics have also charged that the gun control issue cost the Democrats control of the House and critical votes during the 2000 presidential election.
LAPIERRE: It's been a political loser. It's been a failure in terms of stopping crime. And it should not be extended.
KING: But McCarthy refuses to let politics derail her personal mission.
MCCARTHY: I remember every single day why I'm in Congress, and that's to reduce gun violence in this country. That's my top priority.
KING: Jane King, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 28, 2003 - 07:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Ten years ago, a lone gunman began firing indiscriminately at people aboard a Long Island commuter train. Six people died, 19 were wounded.
Today, Caroline McCarthy has made it her mission to get assault type weapons off the streets. Our Jane King has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every morning, for the past 10 years, she starts her day by lighting a candle.
REP. CAROLINE MCCARTHY: It reminded me the flicker, how life is so fragile.
KING: New York Congresswoman Caroline McCarthy remembers how her own life was suddenly shattered by a senseless shooting.
MCCARTHY: And I remember standing out on the driveway screaming Dennis was dead, Kevin was shot in the head.
KING: Her husband, Dennis, and her son, Kevin, were among 25 people shot by a lone gunman on a packed rush hour commuter train that evening.
MCCARTHY: Colin Ferguson, I will give you no hatred.
KING: The man who killed six people and wounded 19 others in what's known as the Long Island Railroad Massacre is now serving six consecutive life sentences. The horrible event that night has transformed McCarthy from a quiet nurse and mother into a gun control activist.
MCCARTHY: I decided that I was going to make a difference so no other family would have to go through this.
KING: She ran for Congress and won.
MCCARTHY: Colin Ferguson didn't miss one person with the bullets that he used.
KING: Serving her fourth term in Congress now, her next battle is to extend an assault weapons ban law that will expire next fall. But she may be outgunned by her political rival, the NRA.
WILLIAM LAPIERRE, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: This legislation was lied into law 10 years ago. Politicians were told that these guns on the ban list were more powerful, they made bigger holes, they were machine guns, they shoot faster, they spray bullets, none of which is true.
KING: Some critics have also charged that the gun control issue cost the Democrats control of the House and critical votes during the 2000 presidential election.
LAPIERRE: It's been a political loser. It's been a failure in terms of stopping crime. And it should not be extended.
KING: But McCarthy refuses to let politics derail her personal mission.
MCCARTHY: I remember every single day why I'm in Congress, and that's to reduce gun violence in this country. That's my top priority.
KING: Jane King, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
