Supporters and some opponents of gun safety reforms rallied at the State House on January 3, 2024, less than three months after Maine’s deadliest mass shooting. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)
A year after Maine’s deadliest mass shooting, when 18 people were killed by a man wielding a Ruger SFAR rifle, Maine’s congressional delegation and those running against them in the upcoming election do not all support an assault weapons ban.
Maine Morning Star asked the incumbents and their challengers their position on several aspects of gun policy, including a national gun registry and extreme risk protection orders, known as red flag laws, which give families and law enforcement a tool to remove weapons from someone deemed a danger to themselves or others.
Maine currently has a “yellow flag” law in place, which only permits law enforcement to petition to have firearms removed and requires a mental health evaluation. A commission investigating the Lewiston shooting concluded law enforcement had probable cause to utilize the current law to take shooter Robert Card II’s firearms, but failed to do so. Many advocates and lawmakers believe a red flag law would have been more effective.
A majority of the candidates agreed that there is a connection between gun violence and mental health issues, and many said they would advocate for increased mental health support to prevent gun violence, particularly for young people and in schools.
2nd Congressional District
Gun rights have been under fierce debate in Maine since the Oct. 25, 2023 Lewiston shooting, particularly in the race for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, whose public about-face on assault weapons after the shooting in his hometown drew praise and criticism, has still tried to highlight support for his reelection among gun owners.
“Some gun owners will say my proposal goes too far or that nothing should be done at all. Others will say it’s too narrow,” he wrote in a Bangor Daily News op-ed outlining his new position. “But the calculus is simple: Maine must find a balance between protecting individual rights and protecting our community from the destructiveness of mass shootings.”
Golden specifically said he would oppose the sale of new assault weapons.
However, the congressman still opposes red flag laws, according to a campaign spokesperson, and has voted against them when he served in the Maine Legislature as well as in Congress.
Golden would also oppose any proposed national gun registry, the spokesperson said, reiterating what Golden said during the second CD2 debate earlier this month. However, Golden did say that he supports a permitting system for those who own assault-style rifles.
Golden’s Republican challenger, Austin Theriault, has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association and given an A+ by the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, an organization that lobbies for gun rights. Theriault did not respond to requests for comment but based on his legislative voting records and debate responses, Theriault is opposed to red flag laws, a national gun registry and an assault weapons ban. During the debates, he reiterated the importance of protecting the SecondAmendment.
However, Theriault did say during one debate that he supports Maine’s weaker “yellow flag” law.
Diana Merenda, who is running as an official write-in candidate for the 2nd District, said “there is absolutely no reason for anyone to be able to obtain an assault weapon. Full stop.”
However, she argued that red flag laws and gun registries won’t be effective in deterring rampant mass shootings in the U.S..
“This situation can neither be fixed with a magic wand ‘red-flag’ law nor can it stand if we consider America as a model, civilized society,” she said. “We need to get back to basics. A national gun registry is a start but insufficient.”
1st Congressional District
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, who has represented southern Maine since 2009, has consistently supported gun control legislation throughout her career.
In 2022, she helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which made changes to federal firearms laws, including expanding background check requirements and also provided funds to behavioral and mental health services, enhancing school safety, and addressing gun violence in communities.
“I continue to support actions that go much further, including banning assault weapons, expanding background checks, and implementing a nationwide ‘red flag’ law,” Pingree said.
She also said she is in favor of a national assault weapons ban.
“The horrific shooting in Lewiston last year was committed with a semiautomatic rifle, and I’m committed to doing everything in my power to ensure a tragedy like that cannot happen again,” she said.
Pingree’s Republican challenger, Ron Russell, said he does not support red flag laws because “there is no due process involved in their execution,” nor does he support an assault weapons ban or gun registry.
“Weapons do not kill people. The individuals operating the weapons are the culprit in these shootings,” he said.
“I support better mental health counseling and I wouldn’t limit it to just those trying to purchase weapons.”
Like Theriault, Russell said he supports regulations like Maine’s yellow flag law, “which do contain an element of due process,” he said.
Independent Ethan Alcorn said allowing courts to take away people’s weapons or a national gun registry would be an infringement of the Second Amendment.
“If somebody wants to… turn you in for something you haven’t done yet, that could get into a dangerous place,” he said.
According to Alcorn, while assault weapons are not really a “necessary” piece of somebody’s gun arsenal, the Second Amendment allows anyone to have one if they want.
“It’s like abortion; if you don’t like abortion don’t have one. If you don’t like guns, don’t have one,” Alcorn said, but he did not clarify whether he thinks assault weapons should be banned at the national level.
U.S. Senate
A month after the Lewiston shooting last year, independent U.S. Sen. Angus King introduced legislation that would limit certain kinds of assault weapons.
The Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion — or GOSAFE — Act was intended to limit the use of weapons based on how they work as opposed to a broader ban on assault weapons.
“For years, I have said that rather than using the appearance of these guns to restrict them, we should instead focus on how these weapons actually work and the features that make them especially dangerous,” King said in a statement at the time.
“Nothing can bring back the lives of our family and friends, but responsible actions moving forward can reduce the likelihood of such a nightmare happening again in Maine or anywhere else.”
King’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
In 2022, he, like Pingree, supported the Safer Communities Act, which included funding for red flag laws and mental health supports.
The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine gave King an F grade in its 2024 election guide, saying the senator had taken a “dramatic turn toward gun control.”
“He got it right for the last decade, but we do not understand why he has it so wrong today,” the election guide said, pointing to a 2013 op-ed where the former governor argued against an assault weapons ban.
Democrat David Costello, who is challenging King, attributed his stance to being the “only candidate competing to represent Maine in the U.S. Senate who grew up learning to hunt and shoot responsibly in Maine.”
He said he not only supports red flag laws, a national gun registry for “military assault” weapons, and a ban on the sale of “military assault weapons,” but also universal background checks, and safe storage of guns.
“I also support increased federal funding for expanded mental health services, community policing, and stricter sentencing for gun-related crimes,” Costello said.“I support this comprehensive gun safety approach because I believe that it is best way to reduce gun violence, including suicides, in the United States – and to do so without negatively impacting law-abiding Mainers’ rights to own guns and to hunt and shoot.”
Republican Senate candidate Demi Kouzounas did not respond to requests for comment but, based on former statements and responses to gun rights groups, such as Gun Owners of Maine, opposes gun safety measures.
Kouzounas supports the Second Amendment and opposes laws that violate constitutional rights, stating the “rights enumerated in the constitution are absolute,” Gun Owners of Maine wrote in their report card ranking Maine’s elected officials and candidates for federal office.
But according to her responses, she would oppose allowing concealed weapons permit holders to carry in schools and believes “advances in technology need to be closely monitored and adjudicated to meet the reasonable goals of the majority of law abiding gun owners,” the report card said.
King’s other challenger, independent Jason Cherry, said he supports red flag laws as a way to take guns away from people who have been deemed a danger to themselves or others, but that individuals who have guns taken away must have access to a court-appointed attorney and timelines for hearings where they can make the case to get their firearms back.
He does not support a national gun registry or an assault weapons ban, arguing that assault weapons keep governments in check.
“This idea of banning assault weapons ignores the hard-fought realization that in order to balance power between citizens and their government, citizens must be armed to prevent national tyranny,” he said.
“I support reasonable measures to prevent mass shootings, such as rational gun control,” Cherry said, adding that he also supports mental health resources “to focus on at-risk youth in our schools and address their needs before they erupt in gun violence.”
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