On the first anniversary of the Empire State Building shooting, Congresswoman McCarthy joined Matthew Gross, victim of the Empire State Building shooting, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Senator Frank Lautenberg, Representative Bill Pascrell and former White House Press Secretary Jim Brady to announce PAX, a new national movement to reduce gun violence in America at the HBO Conference Center in New York City.

Founded by Matthew Gross' brother Daniel Gross and Talmage Cooley, PAX's mission is to communicate, nationally, common sense solutions to gun violence in the United States. The organization has the support of every major anti-gun violence organization, as well as local, state and national representatives working on legislation to reduce gun violence.

Congresswoman McCarthy said, "When I first heard about the shooting at the Empire State Building I asked myself, why did this happen? Why do so many families have to suffer from senseless gun violence?" Like the tragedy on the Long Island Rail Road, the Empire State Building incident came to symbolize the horror of gun violence in our society. And like with the LIRR incident gunman, the man who killed one person and wounded five others at the Empire State Building purchased his gun after establishing a sham residence. Within a month after the shooting, Congresswoman McCarthy joined with her colleagues Nita Lowey, Eliot Engel, Bill Pascrell and others to sponsor legislation for stricter residence requirements for purchasing a gun.

At the announcement Mrs. McCarthy said, "I know personally that from a tragedy we must try to make something positive out of the senselessness, and the Gross family is doing just that. I look forward to working with PAX to find common sense solutions to end gun violence in our society."