Metro

Long Island Rep. McCarthy has lung cancer

WASHINGTON — Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-LI), one of the leading advocates in Congress for stricter gun control, revealed yesterday that she has lung cancer.

McCarthy, 69, said the disease is in a treatable form and she has mapped out a medical regimen.

The former nurse ran for Congress after a gunman killed her husband, Dennis, and five others and seriously wounded her adult son, Kevin, on a Long Island Rail Road train in 1993.

She has served in the House for 17 years and has repeatedly pushed for a ban on assault weapons, the elimination of high-capacity ammunition magazines and stiffer background checks on gun sales.

“I am a fighter, as many people know, and I am committed to beating this latest challenge in my life,” McCarthy said.