Maine hunters do not use automatic weapons because there is no reason to own one

An alarming article published in The Washington Post led me to find the following letter to the editor published in Maine.  "Double mass shootings over December 1, 2023, weekend set grim U.S. record."

In less than 90 minutes on Sunday afternoon, two 911 calls led police in Texas and Washington to two mass shootings that pushed the nation to a gruesome milestone. They were the 37th and 38th shootings this year in which four or more victims were killed, the highest number of mass killings in any year since at least 2006. Last year’s 36 was the previous record.

Echo opinion letter published in CentralMaine.com:

Some time ago, I asked Maine Rep. Jared Golden if he would still oppose an assault weapons ban if his own daughter was the victim of a mass shooting. I got a form letter in response, touting his support of the clearly ineffective Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. 

How quickly he changed his mind when a hypothetical situation suddenly became an actual possibility. While I applaud Rep. Golden finally changing his stance, it shouldn’t have taken a mass shooting in his own city for him to see the light.

Unfortunately, too many Maine legislators are posting that we shouldn’t “politicize” this issue and push for more gun safety laws. The truth is that not a single one of these legislators would say, “Well, it was worth it for the right to own one of these weapons!” if it was their own child or loved one. So why do they vote as if they would? Even Ronald Reagan said, “I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for the defense of the home.”

It’s time to end the hypocrisy. No one needs an assault weapon for home defense or hunting. No one.

Amy Fuller in Augusta, Maine