Hi there,

As the future of democracy in the United States hangs in the balance, the need for courageous independent media is more important than ever. Our reporting centers the voices of people routinely excluded from corporate and government-run media, such as those raising deep questions about war and peace, demanding an end to our global reliance on fossil fuels. Because we are audience-supported, we need your help today. Can you donate $15 to Democracy Now! today to support independent media? From now until Giving Tuesday, a group of generous donors will TRIPLE your gift, which means your $15 donation is worth $45. Please help us air in-depth, substantive coverage of the outcome of the election and what it means for our collective future. Thank you so much! Every dollar makes a difference.

-Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Maine Rep. Reverses Stance on Gun Laws, Calls for Ban on Assault Rifles, After Lewiston Massacre

HeadlineOct 27, 2023

In Maine, the manhunt continues for the suspect in Wednesday night’s shooting rampage that killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in Lewiston, Maine’s second-largest city. Residents have been instructed to continue sheltering in place, while many schools remain closed today, including schools like Bates and the Portland public school system. The suspect, 40-year-old Robert Card, is a white Army reservist and firearms trainer who was hospitalized in a mental health facility over the summer after he threatened to “shoot up” a National Guard base in New York. Investigators are reportedly looking into whether the shooter was targeting his partner or former partner. Maine does not require permits to carry guns, does not require background checks and has no red flag laws.

On social media, one of Maine’s most prominent residents, the author Stephen King, wrote, “It’s the rapid-fire killing machines, people. This is madness in the name of freedom. Stop electing apologists for murder.” And on Thursday, Maine Democratic Congressmember Jared Golden, a Marine Corps veteran who lives in Lewiston, said the massacre had changed his views on gun control.

Rep. Jared Golden: “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 like the one used by the sick perpetrator of this mass killing in my home town of Lewiston, Maine.”

In another mass shooting, police on Thursday found five people fatally shot in Clinton, North Carolina. A suspect and motive have not yet been identified. There have been close to 600 mass shootings in the United States this year alone.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top