Lewiston survivors consider looming election as gun control comes to forefront after mass shooting
LEWISTON, Maine– Ben Dyer hasn’t decided yet how he’ll vote in one of this year’s most closely watched congressional elections, but he knows guns will be on his mind when he votes. And he’s pretty sure he won’t be the only one.
Dyer, a 47-year-old father of two, was shot five times in the Schemengees Bar & Schedule in Lewiston last October during the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history. He was rushed to a hospital in a game warden’s pickup. He still cannot use his right arm.
In the aftermath of a blood-soaked tragedy that left 18 people dead and many more injured at two separate crime scenes, Dyer has seen his state take a battery of new gun control laws. It is against that backdrop that he and other voters in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District will consider the political future of three-term Congressman Jared Golden.
Golden, a Democrat with a history of supporting gun rights in ways that went against his party’s orthodoxy, has changed his position since the Lewiston shooting. A former Marine who served in two wars overseas, he now supports a ban on assault weapons. He is unopposed in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Maine, but the two Republicans running against him in November have both pledged to defend Second Amendment rights more forcefully than he has.
The congressman’s changing position worries Dyer, who has voted for him before. Dyer, a gun owner who describes himself as politically independent, says stricter gun controls hurt law-abiding gun owners.
“The question is, who are you really helping when you make those changes, because it’s not the voters,” he said. “That platform, AR, all my friends have a gun on that platform. They were not used to hurt anyone.”
That may be true for the guns of Dyers’ friends, but the same can’t be said for Lewiston shooter Robert Card’s assault weapon.
Golden’s willingness to reconsider his position was encouraging to Tammy Asselin survived the shooting at a bowling alley in Lewiston with her daughter Toni. She knows it was difficult, but said she was “impressed by (Golden’s) strength and willingness to change his position so quickly despite much resistance.”
Asselin unequivocally supports a ban on assault weapons.
“There is no need for such powerful weapons to be in the hands of anyone other than our military and first responders,” she said. “People claim it’s their right to bear, and I’m not against that right, but there is absolutely no reason on this earth that they can give that gives a reasonable reason for owning these powerful weapons.”
In Golden’s 2nd Congressional District, gun ownership for hunting and sport is common. It’s a vast, mostly forested part of Maine that stands out both culturally and politically from the liberal, beachy 1st District surrounding Portland. Forestry, papermaking and lobster fishing are typical industries in the second country, and the state’s elk hunt is a landmark event there every fall.
Golden said he believes an assault weapons ban would have saved lives in Lewiston, but he also knows his home district is a place where the Second Amendment to the Constitution is important to people.
“We cannot ignore the fact that gun laws, both in Maine and elsewhere, must make room for the Constitution,” Golden said. “The Second Amendment is rooted in self-defense and protection of the family and home.”
Golden’s campaign for another term has bigger implications, with Republicans retaining just a five-seat margin in the House of Representatives. He was initially elected in 2018 through ranked voting — a historic first for a member of Congress — and has won by about 6 percentage points in the two campaigns since.
This campaign promises to be a tougher battle, partly because of the volatility of the gun issue and partly because of former President Donald Trump’s popularity in the district, said Mark Brewer, a political scientist at the University of Maine. Trump, who is participating in the presidential elections again this year, has done so won an electoral vote in the 2nd Congressional District twice by comfortable margins.
“You could see it as a positive that (Golden) can change his views in response to a traumatic public event that everyone in his district has experienced, everyone in the country has experienced,” Brewer said. “On the other hand, the 2nd Congressional District is very rural, with a lot of gun ownership.”
Republican state Reps. Austin Theriault and Michael Soboleski face off Tuesday in the Republican Party primaries. Both men have vowed to be stronger defenders of the Second Amendment than Golden. Theriault has sent campaign emails to supporters portraying Golden as inconsistent on gun rights, and Soboleski has said Maine lawmakers’ proposals for a “red flag” law to identify people who could pose a threat before something tragic happens, ‘belong in a paper shredder’.
But some in the district say Golden’s evolution on gun laws is appropriate. Not long after the Lewiston disaster, Golden publicly came out in favor of a ban on assault weapons. He has since said he “would not have voted for” changes to state-level gun laws that Maine Democrats have pushed through, such as expanding background checks and creating sanctions for illegal weapons sales.
Gun control groups have welcomed Golden’s new stance on assault weapons. The Maine Gun Safety Coalition, which advocates for stricter gun laws, has not yet expressed support for Golden’s re-election race, but the group’s executive director, Nacole Palmer, said Golden “represents the courage, thoughtfulness and leadership we hope to see in other countries.” candidates.”
In his hometown of Auburn, just miles from where he was shot on Oct. 25, Dyer isn’t so sure. He said the elections would be a difficult decision for him.
In the meantime, he is learning to shoot with his left hand again.
“Some sick person did something sick that day,” Dyer said. “I think a lot of the gun laws they’re trying to do are reactionary and not proactive to the right situation.”