Pro-Gun Centrist Apologizes, Calls on Congress to Ban Assault Rifles After Mass Shooting

A centrist Democrat who has long opposed increased gun control is now publicly calling for a Congressional ban on assault rifles after one was used in a tragic mass shooting in his district.

Congressman Jared Golden (D-NY) represents a district which includes Lewiston, Maine. Lewiston was the site of a mass shooting on Wednesday night which killed 18 people and injured 13 others. At the time of writing, authorities are searching for the perpetrator, U.S. Army reservist Robert Card.

Golden, a Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, is the co-chair of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition caucus.

He was the lone Democratic opponent to a March 2021 bill which would require background checks between private parties. In July 2022, he opposed a bill banning assault weapons.

On Thursday, citing a “false confidence that our community was above this” and “many other misjudgments,” Golden publicly apologized for his previous legislative opposition to gun control: “The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure.”

He then called on “the United States Congress to ban assault rifles.”

What legislative action will be taken remains to be seen. After the Lewiston mass shooting, President Biden publicly urged Congress to act. The Republican-controlled House has no appetite for gun control legislation. The Democratic majority in the Senate is propped up by some incumbents in vulnerable districts whose support of gun control laws may undermine their reelection.

What happened in Lewiston is the 36th mass shooting in the United States this year.

Video from NBC News