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Randy Kozuch is the executive director of the National Rifle Association-Institute for Legal Action. Lauren LePage is a principal at FYRE Strategies, LLC and a longtime Second Amendment advocate.
Gun owners in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District should know that Rep. Jared Golden has walked away from the constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms. Golden doesn’t fully support the Second Amendment and the rights of law-abiding citizens. We believe he can’t be trusted to defend them and their rights.
Golden has apparently joined a growing list of Democrats including Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and others, who hope to remake their political images by switching positions on critical issues.
When Golden called for a ban on legal, commonly owned firearms, branded by those who support gun control as assault-style guns, he was immediately hailed by his ultra-left colleagues in Congress. In switching his stance following the Lewiston tragedy, Golden told voters that it was his “failure” for not supporting a ban sooner.
He has stated that he would work with any colleague to pass an “assault weapons” ban during the time he has left in Congress, which for the sake of law-abiding gun owners, we hope is very short.
Golden’s retreat on gun rights doesn’t stop with a call for bans on some of the most popular firearms in America. He now supports a gun registration system, one that could ultimately lead to gun confiscation. Yet, in the wake of those aggressive proposed actions to erode the constitutional rights of law-abiding people, Golden apparently still hopes to convince Maine gun owners that he is on their side.
No matter your reason for owning a firearm, whether it be to protect yourself and your family, or for recreational purposes, if re-elected to Congress, Jared Golden has pledged to join with others in Washington to vote to strip away some of your Second Amendment rights.
Maine voters should not be duped by the so-called “Sportsmen for Golden.” This group puts a thin pro-gun veneer on a flawed candidate, one who has clearly backtracked in his support of the Second Amendment.
Austin Theriault, on the other hand, is a strong candidate who consistently champions the Second Amendment and has, according to the NRA, a perfect voting record as a Maine state representative.
When voters examine the records and statements of political candidates and consider them for office, they want candidates to be forthright, reliable, and genuinely honest. By routinely muddling his own political brand, Golden likely confuses Maine voters about what he stands for. Where are Golden’s loyalties, and what are his political priorities? If you vote for Jared Golden, what kind of representation will you get in Washington?
That the answers to those questions are uncertain for an incumbent is troubling. Perhaps Golden’s biggest priority is that of political optimism. By changing stances on critical issues such as gun rights and the Second Amendment, Golden might think he’s appealing to a broader swath of Maine voters. Instead, to us, he’s raising many more questions about whether he’s a reliable representative for his constituents.
Golden sends one mixed political signal after another. Golden has said he would be “OK” with Donald Trump being elected president — a reasonable move for a Democrat trying to present himself as centrist in a district Trump won handily in the last two elections. Yet, Golden says he won’t support Trump this November, but he won’t say if he can support the Harris/Walz ticket either.
We believe Maine voters deserve better representation in Congress and that it’s time to elect Austin Theriault to represent Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in Washington, D.C.
