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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 Sand, 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.
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