Kerr: The overnight evolution of Jared Golden

Jared Golden was out of town the night Robert Card gunned down 31 people, killing 18, in a massacre that started half a mile from Golden’s home in Lewiston, Maine.

For nearly two hours, Golden was unable to make contact with his wife, Isobel, who’s carrying the couple’s second child. A heavily-tattooed former Marine corporal who served tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Golden’s natural instinct was to protect his family, which also includes 2-year-old daughter Rosemary. He realized the shooter, who had not yet been located, could be lurking in the Goldens’ neighborhood. Golden had a handgun and an A1 Government model rifle in 5.56 mm at home, but they weren’t much good with him hundreds of miles away.

He eventually connected with his family and was assured they were safe, then returned home the next day. But that’s not the end of the story — it’s really just the beginning.

Because Golden also happens to be a United States congressman, representing Maine’s northern district since 2019. More significantly, he’s been one of the Democratic Party’s staunchest defenders of the Second Amendment, among a mere handful who have consistently resisted gun control measures. With the eyes of the nation on his hometown in the wake of last month’s mass shooting, Golden made headlines by suddenly reversing this stance, and asking forgiveness of his constituents for not coming around sooner.

The 41-year-old lawmaker subsequently issued a statement to his fellow Mainers further expounding on his new position, and it’s likely one of the best pieces of political writing I’ve read in a long time. Not because of the poetry of its wordplay or any particularly extraordinary vision, but rather the simple genius of Golden’s heartfelt, clear-eyed, common-sense narrative.

In his e-mail, the representative started off by citing the chaotic events of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.

“It was worse than you imagine, and I think the country is fortunate that it wasn’t even worse,” wrote Golden, who was there that day. He received death threats afterward, like many other lawmakers, which prompted him to purchase the weapons previously mentioned to protect his family. He chose the A1 rifle because of his familiarity with the weapon that accompanied him in two wars.

“With some modifications, it’s pretty much the same one I carried everywhere, and even slept next to, in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Golden wrote. In acquiring these guns, he was embracing his long-held belief in both the right and “unfortunately, the necessity” of defending oneself and loved ones.

“If you’d asked me Wednesday morning, I would have insisted on the righteousness of my previous position about rifles like the AR-15,” he said. “By Thursday evening, that had changed.”

Golden already believed there should be a balance between an individual’s right and the public’s right to enjoy security, “and the obligation of the government to provide it,” he wrote. He described occasions when he’s been out grocery shopping or dining with his family, carrying his firearm, and envisioning scenarios of an active shooter bursting into the premises. Unfortunately, this has become an all-too-common practice in our country.

“Can a good guy with a gun stop a bad guy with a gun? Yes they can,” Golden observed. “But is it guaranteed to go that way? Absolutely not. Actually, it won’t without some serious good luck — right time, right place, right angle. Everything has to go right.”

To be clear, as Golden has emphasized in other interviews since his initial announcement, the Maine congressman has no desire to dismantle the Second Amendment. His scope is squarely on this specific type of rifle which appears to be the preferred weapon of choice for most American mass murderers of the 21st century. And Golden has insight into why AR-15-type weapons are so popular with killers.

“This style of rifle is near perfect for the rapid reacquisition of targets,” he noted in his letter. “The recoil more or less puts your muzzle right back on target if you know the proper technique. Coupled with a 30 round magazine of 5.56 or .223 that with muscle memory you can speed reload in seconds.”

Then he added:

“Are guys like me going to have to start carrying AR-15s strapped over our shoulders like we strap handguns on our waists when we take the family out to eat, to buy groceries, go to the movies, drive them to school? If we have to for the protection of our loved ones a lot of us surely would. But is that the society we want for our families or for our kids' future? For me, the answer to this question is an easy no.”

The simplest, most efficient measure to counter these mass shooting, he concluded, is to just take this particular weapon off the table. “We should ban the further sale of them and, at a minimum, we should regulate the ongoing possession of them with a permit and a regular review process in order to keep them,” he wrote.

I’m already on the record as being a long-time fan of Golden’s, mainly because he’s not a typical politician. Fit and annoyingly youthful with close-cropped hair, he looks like he could still be on active duty. When in Washington, he can be found working with shirtsleeves rolled up, displaying prominent tattoos on both forearms; when meeting with constituents back in Maine’s Second District, he usually wears his trademark flannel shirts and jeans.

He has acknowledged his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder after returning home from the Marine Corps, and his aimlessness working three jobs with no particular goal in mind. One of those jobs was in a pizza joint, and it was there that a customer who happened to be a Bates College administrator famously encouraged Golden to go back to school for his bachelor’s degree.

This latest stance is emphatically non-political, stemming not from the Beltway but rather his own back yard. Golden represented Lewiston in the Maine legislature before running for Congress, and his wife once served on the city council. Campaigning in a rural region generally considered right-leaning, Golden is putting his reelection at genuine risk. Some liberals will criticize him for coming to his decision too late; some conservatives will accuse him of betraying the rights of gun owners.

But ultimately, this ex-Marine has decided the convenience of owning a semi-automatic weapon is far exceeded by the danger it poses to his family and yours.

D. Allan Kerr is an ex-dockworker, former newspaperman and U.S. Navy veteran living in Kittery, Maine.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kerr: The overnight evolution of Jared Golden