Dems for the IRA Rep. McCarthy opposes the Second Amendment, defends the IRA.

By Jaime Sneider, NRO August 17, 2001 10:40 a.m. In recent months, a resolution has been put forward in the House to honor the memory of the IRA terrorists who died during a 1981 hunger strike. Among the bill's Democratic cosponsors, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York deserves to be singled out. Somehow, in spite of her support for rigid gun-control measures, McCarthy has decided to ally herself with the IRA.

McCarthy entered the political scene following the murder of her husband, who was shot to death by a crazed killer on a commuter train on December 7, 1993. By her own account, she "turned the incident into a public campaign against gun violence" — and eventually, a run for office.

As a member of Congress, she has been ruthless in her pursuance of gun-control measures. Last month, she issued a statement against gutting the ineffective Housing and Urban Development Agency gun buy-back program — even though such payouts are known to rarely, if ever, involve illegally owned firearms. McCarthy is also a firm supporter of trigger locks (which under many circumstances do more harm than good) and of "smart" gun technology (which has failed trial after trial). In fact, since the beginning of the year, McCarthy's office has issued no fewer than 12 press releases endorsing further gun-control measures.

And yet, despite her tireless efforts to make guns harder to obtain for the law-abiding, she nevertheless does not take issue with the hunger strikers — among them Bobby Sands, who was convicted on two different occasions of illegal possession of firearms, and who was linked to a 1976 bombing of a furniture company.

Another hunger striker, Francis Hughes, was convicted of murder. (Hoping he had killed two soldiers, he anxiously asked his first visitor in prison: "How many did I get?") According to a website commemorating the hunger strike, "It is believed that somewhere between 20-30 British soldiers and police officers died at [Hughes's] hand."

One skeptic of the hunger strike is Dr. Joseph Morrison Skelly, a New York-based academic who has written several books on Irish history and politics. Skelly has pointed out that "[The] deaths were in reality acts of suicide that violated the most sacred principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition."

Only recently, the IRA withdrew from proposed disarmament plans. Three members were reportedly just arrested in Colombia, for trading arms with rebel paramilitaries. Reports like these would seem to suggest that the IRA is not in fact abiding by the cease-fire agreement, as it has purported to for the last four years.

The IRA are believed to have in their possession hundreds of firearms imported from Libya. And there was, of course, that pesky run-in with the law in July 1999, when three IRA agents were caught exporting guns illegally — by way of the U.S. postal system. A fax to a gun dealer from two of the criminals expressed interest in purchasing "anything silenced, small and concealable" (sic), "any full-auto SMG… the smaller the better," and an "H&K MP5 Auto in briefcase."

The IRA also engage in vigilantism, including what they call "punishment beatings." The Royal Ulster Constabulary, charged with policing Northern Ireland, reports that violent acts like these have continued since the "cease-fire." In the absence of guns, perpetrators have turned to substitute weapons including "bats, pick axe handles (some studded with nails) or iron bars."

In fact, until 1999, the State Department included the IRA in its list of terrorists. Their sudden removal was addressed in a list of frequently asked questions: Ignoring evidence of repeated violations, "the Secretary of State took note of the IRA's unequivocal cease-fire," while making note of "a strong body of evidence documenting historic IRA involvement in terrorist activity."

McCarthy and her peers need to explain their peculiar decision to ally with a criminal gang. Of course, everyone — whether for gun rights or against them — ought to condemn the IRA's paramilitary tactics. But one might have expected that Democrats, who are generally eager to eliminate firearms, would be especially sensitive to the loss of innocent lives.

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2001