Maine Rep. Jared Golden of Maine — one of the rare House Democrats to oppose many gun safety measures championed by his party — came out in support of an assault weapons ban on Thursday, the day after shootings in his hometown of Lewiston left at least 18 dead and 13 injured.
“I have opposed efforts to ban deadly weapons of war,” Golden said at news conference in Lewiston. “The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure, which is why I now call on the United States Congress to ban assault rifles.”
Golden’s announcement marks a notable shift for the three-term congressman, who represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District – a largely rural seat that twice backed former President Donald Trump. First elected in 2018 when he flipped the GOP-held district under ranked-choice voting, the Marine veteran has broken with his party on a number of priorities, including gun measures.
While Golden backed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act last year — the first major federal gun safety legislation in decades — he has voted against other firearms bills pushed by Democrats over the years, notably an assault-style weapons ban that the House, then under Democratic control, passed in 2022. Golden was one of five Democrats to oppose that measure — and one of three who are still in the House.
In a 2022 statement defending his votes against gun measures, the congressman said, “We do not need to take some types of firearms away from all Americans, but instead we should work to keep all firearms out of the hands of felons and those who have demonstrated that they are at serious risk of committing harm to themselves or others.”
But on Thursday, with his community still in lockdown, the congressman struck an urgent tone about the need to restrict assault weapons. “For the good of my community, I will work with any colleague to…
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