Representative Jared Golden of Maine, a centrist Democrat, called for a ban on assault weapons Thursday afternoon, reversing a long-held stance after 18 people were killed in a mass shooting in Lewiston.
Mr. Golden, a Marine Corps veteran, has repeatedly broken with his party to oppose legislation that would ban assault weapons, a policy that Democrats have repeatedly tried and failed to revive in the nearly two decades since it lapsed.
That position, Mr. Golden said on Thursday, reflected in part “a false confidence that our community was above this, and that we could be in full control, among many other misjudgments.”“The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure,” Mr. Golden said.
Standing by him at a news conference, Senator Susan Collins, a centrist Republican, declined to back a ban on assault weapons.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, one of the most liberal lawmakers in the House, called Mr. Golden’s comments “powerful, brave and moving” on social media.
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