Rep. McCarthy condemns senator's gun comments

New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy poses for a portrait in... — New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy poses for a portrait in her the hallway outside of her office in The Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. (July 21, 2011) Credit: Eli Meir Kaplan

August 18, 2011

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) condemned comments made by Sen. Tom Coburn Thursday at a town hall meeting in his home state of Oklahoma about carrying a gun on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

At a town hall meeting Wednesday in Langley, Okla., the newspaper Tulsa World reported that Coburn said: "It's a good thing I can't pack a gun on the Senate floor."

Coburn's staffers said Oklahoma's junior senator was "obviously joking" when he made the comment.

McCarthy didn't see the humor in it.

A proponent of stricter gun laws whose husband was shot to death in 1993 when a gunman opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road car, McCarthy described Coburn's comments as "outrageous and unconscionable."

Her son was also severely wounded in the gunman's fusillade on the train. The Mineola nurse took up gun control advocacy and later ran for Congress.

Thursday, Coburn spokeswoman Becky Bernhardt said the senator was joking and "would be happy to personally apologize to any of his colleagues who were offended."

Staff and wire reports

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