Former New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, known as a prominent advocate for gun control, has died at the age of 81.

Gun control crusader and former U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York has died. She was 81. McCarthy was a political novice who successfully ran for Congress in 1996 as a crusader for gun control after a mass shooting on a New York commuter train left her husband dead and her son severely wounded.

Ms. McCarthy’s political career began with tragedy in December 1993, when her husband was among six people killed in a shooting on a Long Island commuter train.