Two years ago, in the electoral battle pitting Carolyn McCarthy against Dan Frisa in the Fifth Congressional District, guns -- or rather what was seen as the candidates' contrasting views on guns -- was the signature campaign issue.

Now, two years later, the "gun issue" has once again taken center stage, with incumbent Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy recently sponsoring legislation aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of children, and at least one of her two potential Republican opponents -- former Congressman Dan Frisa -- slamming her for doing "too little, too late" in regard to the issue that sent her to Washington.

Frisa has described the legislation as the congresswoman's "11th hour bid" to promote a gun bill just as she prepares to enter the upcoming campaign season.

With five months to go before voters head to the polls, there's no question that the rhetoric has already gotten white hot. Expect it to get even hotter as the November election approaches, as it will come just weeks before a significant provision of the Brady Bill is set to expire.

That provision, the law requiring a five-day waiting period to buy a handgun, is set to expire Nov. 30.

Adopted by Congress in 1993, the law does not ban firearms, nor is it applicable in every state of the union. Instead, it requires gun buyers to wait as long as five working days before taking new handguns home, giving state and local authorities time to conduct background checks to ferret out convicted criminals, fugitives, and others not eligible to buy guns.

The bill in which this law was contained was named for James S. Brady, press secretary to President Ronald Reagan, who was gravely wounded in the 1981 attempt on the president's life by John Hinckley.

"I strongly support the waiting period provision of the Brady Law for three reasons," Congresswoman McCarthy said earlier this week. "First, the waiting period gives people a few days to cool down instead of picking up a gun and immediately acting on their anger.

"Second, we need to continue a national waiting period because many states do not have the common sense gun laws we have in the State of New York. As a national standard, the Brady waiting period helps discourage gun traffickers from purchasing guns in states with weak laws and bringing them to New York.

"And third, the Brady Law has been an effective tool for keeping guns out of the hands of felons. Last year alone, 69,000 illegal handgun purchases were blocked. Why make a major change to a law that works?"

According to Dan Grindlinger, a spokesman for Dan Frisa, the former congressman "has always supported the Brady Bill" and "fully supports background checks on those who wish to purchase a firearm."

In the meantime, her other potential Republican opponent, Assemblyman Gregory Becker, has said relatively little in regard to the gun issue.

When his campaign office was contacted by this newspaper for this article, they asked to be faxed any material the paper had on the Brady Bill and said they'd get back to this reporter with a comment.

As this newspaper went to press, the candidate had failed to do so.

The statistic cited by Congresswoman McCarthy comes from the United States Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The rejected handgun sales represent about 2.7 percent of the estimated 2.6 million applications for handgun purchases made in 1997.

Since it became the law of the land in February, 1994, an estimated 242,000 potential purchases of handguns were stopped nationwide because of background checks conducted under the Brady Law.

If and when the Brady Law waiting period expires, it will be replaced by an electronic criminal database -- known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System -- which it is said will allow almost instantaneous background checks.

All of the remaining provisions of the Brady Law are to remain in place, and one additional provision will go into effect. Beginning in November pre-sale checks will be required for all firearms -- not just handguns -- purchased from federally licensed dealers.

Interestingly, while the expiration of a portion of the Brady Bill will surely be a hot topic on the local campaign stump, New York is one of several states exempt from the existing Brady Law's provisions because it already has its own system for licensing guns and checking the background of prospective gun buyers.

In the world of legislation, a stricter law, even if enacted by a "lower" level of government, supersedes a less strict law. That's the case here, where the New York law is actually tougher than the Brady Law.

What that means is that even with the expiration of the Brady Law waiting period provision, gun buyers here will still be required to play by New York's rules, which include acquiring a pistol permit -- which in and of itself can take as long as six months.

The Nassau County Police Department's pistol licensing section reports that in 1997, a total of 1,151 new handgun licenses were issued here, while 7,468 existing licenses were renewed.

A total of 17 requests for pistol licenses were rejected last year.

Like Congresswoman McCarthy, Nancy Hwa, of Handgun Control, Inc. and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence in Washington, D.C., said that the continuation of a nationwide waiting period is important to New Yorkers for a variety of reasons.

"To begin with, you have to understand that the Brady Law was actually proposed to fill a loophole that existed in the regulations on the books," she said. "And I think citizens in all states should be concerned, whether the law applies directly to them or not, because handguns don't necessarily stay in one place. They flow from state to state.

"A perfect example is the Empire State Building shooting, the guy involved in that shooting went to Florida to purchase his gun and then used it in New York City.

"In addition, we like the waiting period because in many cases it really does represent a cooling off period, while at the same time giving law enforcement officials more time to check out the background of the individual seeking to purchase a handgun."

At the same time, Hwa and others contend, even if the federal database is constantly updated, it will not include a wide array of local documents that might prove key to making the right decision about whether someone should be allowed to purchase a firearm or not, including state mental health records, restraining orders and domestic violence misdemeanors.

The waiting period, they say, will allow state and local authorities to review those documents as well.

Said Dan Grindlinger of candidate Frisa's position, "Dan has always believed that we should err on the side of caution in regard to this issue. When it comes to the bits and pieces, such as the local documents that they are talking about, Dan Frisa believes we should always be on the side of caution.

"At the same time, he firmly believes that once all of the criteria of the Brady Bill are met, then the person wishing to buy a firearm should get his or her firearm."

The new national database, to be operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will reportedly allow gun store owners, with one phone call, to check a range of government criminal, immigration and mental health records.

A separate federal law, in effect at the time the Brady Law was adopted, established prohibitions against gun sales to several categories of people, including felons, fugitives, mentally ill people and illegal immigrants.

In an attempt to save the waiting period, Congressman Charles Schumer, of New York, and Senator Richard Durbin, of Illinois, are preparing a compromise bill that would cut the waiting period from the current five down to three business days.