Guns are becoming a major issue in the 2nd Congressional District race

Jared Golden was a 36-year-old state legislator who first ran for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in 2018, when his campaign released a television ad that raised eyebrows across the country.

The ad began with a rifle pointed at a distant target as the narrator accused Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin of firing “on-target shots” at Golden that were “far off target.” And it ends with Golden – a tattooed Marine veteran – shouldering his own rifle and telling viewers that, unlike Poliquin, he is a “straight shooter” – just before his shot hits the target.

Over the next five years, Congressman Golden enraged gun control advocates and many of his Democratic colleagues in Washington by voting against bills to expand background checks, ban high-capacity ammunition magazines, and ban assault weapons.

But on October 25 last year, a gunman killed 18 people in Golden’s hometown of Lewiston. Next day Golden asked for forgiveness for his previous stance on assault weapons and declared actions.

“That’s why I’m now calling on the United States Congress to ban assault rifles like the one used by the sick perpetrator of mass murder in my hometown of Lewiston, Maine,” Golden said during a news conference. “For the good of my community, I will work with every colleague to get this done in the time I have left in Congress.”

It was a year ago.

Maine’s 2nd District is once again considered a key battleground in the national parties’ fight for control of the House. A central theme of the campaign became Golden’s changing attitude toward assault weapons – in response to a mass shooting just a half-mile from his family’s home.

Republican challenger Austin Theriault – a state legislator from Fort Kent and former NASCAR driver — portrayed Golden as bending left on gun rights.

“He abandoned the Second Amendment,” Theriault said during a debate at News Center Maine. “Now he supports… I really don’t know because you changed it a few times, gun registry, some sort of gun ban.”

And Theriault’s allies have been heaping hate on Golden for months, as in a Republican National Congressional Committee television ad in which one speaker said he had “changed his stance on guns” and another called the veteran a “traitor.”

Heated rhetoric from both sides in television ads, mailers and other communications highlights the stakes in a race that is a top priority for both national parties.

Although Democrats held Maine’s 2nd District seat for nearly four years since 1995, the district itself has taken a decidedly conservative turn in recent decades. Former President Trump won the district in both 2016 and 2020, even though the statewide vote went to the Democratic presidential candidate.

As in other district races across the country, candidates are fighting on issues such as the economy, energy prices, the U.S. southern border, abortion and improving the economic prospects of rural America. However, guns became a major issue in the Second District after Golden switched to assault weapons.

Gun policy in Maine has always been complicated. The state has a high rate of gun ownership and one of the lowest rates of gun violence in the nation. State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have consistently rejected gun control measures adopted elsewhere in the Northeast because of Maine’s historical ties to guns and hunting.

But that dynamic changed after the mass shooting last October. Earlier this year, Maine’s Democratic-controlled Legislature narrowly passed bills requiring background checks for private gun sales and imposing a three-day waiting period for gun purchases. They also adopted a ban on the so-called stocks, but the bill was vetoed by Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat from rural western Maine who, like Golden, is more moderate on gun issues than many in her party.

For his part, Golden said during an appearance on Maine Calling in May that he was unimpressed with the reaction of his former Democratic colleagues in the Maine House of Representatives. Golden was the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives before being elected to Congress.

“I think they did the wrong things, but in some ways I think they did too much, focusing on the wrong things,” Golden said.

Instead, Golden says lawmakers should focus on the lethality of assault weapons used in many mass shootings.

According to the official timeline of the shooting, the Lewiston gunman killed 18 people and wounded 13 in just two minutes. Golden, who served combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, said during a debate on WAGM-TV on Presque Isle that more people would be alive today if the gunman had had a less destructive weapon.

“We won’t get rid of all the weapons. Certainly I and no one here will support that,” Golden said. “But we can talk about how to reduce the number of deaths by taking some of these most dangerous firearms off the shelves or, as I have proposed, introducing a higher threshold for legal possession of them.”

Golden’s position has changed since he was announced a year ago. An assault weapons ban is not enough to pass Congress. But Golden says state legislatures could introduce permitting systems that would require owners or potential purchasers of assault-style devices to undergo additional security checks beyond standard background checks. This could help ensure that more lethal firearms do not end up in the hands of dangerous people.

But to groups like the NRA and Gun Owners of Maine, it sounds a lot like a gun registry — and a first step toward government-led gun seizures. Both groups gave Golden an F this year, giving his opponent an A. The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, which is arguably the state’s most influential group on gun policy, lowered Golden’s grade from an A to a C, giving Theriault an A.

Theriault often talks about the need to invest in mental health treatment to address mass shootings.

“We have to take this seriously, and in fact, my party should take this seriously because it’s something we always struggle with,” Theriault said during a debate co-hosted by WGME and the Bangor Daily News. “But if we want to address the problem of violence and mass shootings in our country, let’s not rely on the Second Amendment. Let’s talk about making those investments we’ve been waiting to make for decades.”

Golden, in response, pointed out that as a state legislator, Theriault voted against this year’s state budget, which would have provided multimillion-dollar funding in additional funding for mental health services, including for the Lewiston area, in response to the shooting.

Theriault’s campaign also focuses on the issue of gun registration, including: in a new radio ad in which Trump claims that “Golden” would be “a disaster for your Second Amendment.”

“We have to get Golden out of there,” Trump said.

Golden denies allegations that he supports a “gun registry.” He also pointed to his decade of experience taking what he calls a “nuanced” stance on guns aimed at balancing Second Amendment rights and public safety.

It’s unclear whether Golden’s assault weapons change will impact the District 2 race. Limited, nonpartisan polling so far suggests the race is too close to call. And judging by the millions of dollars they have spent in recent weeks, national parties and their ideological allies seem to think this seat is still up for grabs.

Golden said while mid-October performance at Maine Calling that he did what he thought was right at that moment last October. He said he has not changed his position on the need to better regulate assault weapons, even though he owns them.

But when asked how his change on the assault weapons issue affected the campaign, Golden replied: “I think we’ll find out in the most important poll, which is Election Day.”