Is There A Solution To The Unique American Gun Problem? Will Legislators Change Their Minds?

Sure... When Their Own Towns Or Their Families Get Shot Up

It always pissed me off when some Republican would drop their homophobia when their own child would come out as gay— although not as much as when they stuck with their homophobia when their child came out as gay. This week Lewiston, Maine got shot up by a heavily armed MAGAt who— like the new MAGAt speaker of the House— hears voice talking to him. 18 people were killed and many more were wounded. Maine Blue Dog Jared Golden was born in Lewiston and now represents the red-leaning district. Trump won it both times, in 2020 by 6 points. The PVI is R+6… a tough hill for a Democrat.

Golden was an active duty Marine in both Iraq and Afghanistan. After his service he went back to Afghanistan and taught school. He won a seat in the state House in 2014, representing part of Lewiston and eventually serving as Assistant Majority Leader. He was a progressive, wrote and passed progressive legislation and ran for Congress as a progressive. He beat a Republican in 2018 and instantly turned himself into… a conservative Democrat— a very conservative Democrat. He’s the chair of the Blue Dogs and only 4 Democrats have worse voting records. In terms of guns, he was the only Democrat to vote against H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021. And he was one of only 2 Democrats to vote against H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021.

In light of all those deaths in his hometown, he realized he made a big boo-boo on one issue. At a news conference in Lewiston yesterday, he told reporters that “I have opposed efforts to ban deadly weapons of war like the assault rifle used to carry out this crime. 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 was lauded for his change of heart by progressives. AOC tweeted "Powerful, brave, and moving. This is leadership. Thank you, Rep. Golden." OK, but I'll be more interested if Golden can help change the minds (and hearts) of any of his conservative colleagues who still adamantly oppose banning assault weapons.

Let’s not forget and sweep under the rug that Golden campaigned on being pro-gun and previously opposed measures that could have helped to prevent the Lewiston mass shooting, and only changed his mind after it happened in his own community. In other words, Golden was willing to accept the risk of gun violence as long as it was not happening in his own backyard. This is a form of moral compartmentalization, where people hold different moral standards for themselves and others. Another way to think about this is that Golden was motivated by self-interest rather than altruism. He may have realized that the mass shooting in Lewiston could hurt his political career, and so he changed his position to avoid being seen as out of touch with the needs of his constituents. I’ll acknowledge that there’s another way to look at this that isn’t morally odious— that Golden's change of position is a sign of moral humility, as he was willing to admit that he was wrong and change his mind in light of a new development. It could also be seen as a sign of political courage, as he was willing to stand up for what he now say he believes in, even though it means facing opposition from some of his constituents.

Hours before I saw that, Nicole Sandler and I had been speaking with another ex-Marine, West Virginia’s very progressive Senate candidate, Zach Shrewsbury. Very progressive... but he’s also “pro-gun” he told us. His state, like Maine, is a hunting state. He acknowledges the mass murder problem but told us that because guns are so prevalent everywhere, he sees no escape from the recurring catastrophe of American gun violence. He chalked much of it up to a lack of enforcement and to a mental health problem. Maybe we can get Jared Golden to talk with him.

In an interview with Sean Hannity yesterday, the NRA's new speaker made it clear that the mass murder in Lewiston isn’t going to sway him one bit. Asked about guns, he parroted NRA talking points: “In Europe, and in other places, they use vehicles to mow down crowds at parades; it's not the weapon… This is not the time to be talking about legislation… The problem is the human heart. It's not guns...”