Maine is hunting country. Most say assault rifles are not part of that

The mass shooting deaths of 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, has again shone a spotlight on gun ownership and safeguards around mental health in a state that has prided itself both on high levels of gun ownership and low levels of violent crime.

The suspect, an experienced marksman and US army reservist Robert Card, is believed to have used an AR-15 military style weapon with an expanded magazine, perhaps carrying 60 rounds, similar to the gun that was found later in his abandoned car. Card was found dead Friday night and is thought to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a law enforcement official said.

Two days after the deadly rampage and a day before hunting season opens for white-tailed deer and bear, gun shops in Lewiston and the surrounding area are reporting as much as a four-fold surge sales of firearms and ammunition.

At JT Reid’s Gun & Cigars most of the dozens of guns on display are hunting rifles, and there are less than half-a-dozen of the controversial military-style weapons that national politicians typically call to be banned after mass shooting incidents.

But often the distinctions get lost in America’s bitter and politically fraught debate over gun laws and gun ownership, leaving some law-abiding gun owners in Maine frustrated by the tenor of the debate. That is especially true in Maine, and other New England states like Vermont and New Hampshire, where hunting in the endless woods is a common hobby – and often a fundamental part of local culture.

“There are a lot of families in Maine that depend on what they can harvest during the hunting season to get them through the winter,” says owner John Reid. In economic good times, he says, there was a lull. But now it has come back. “It’s a help to the family.”

An assault-style weapon, using a hunt-legal five round magazine, is not effectively any different, he says. “It’s a multi-purpose rifle firearm. With a large magazine people shoot them for fun in sandpits. Then they swap out the magazine and it becomes a hunting rifle.”

But for true hunters, the question of large magazines – some holding as many as a 1,000 rounds and canisters of explosion-creating tannerite, used for target practice, have no place in a hunters’ legitimate arsenal.

At a news conference in Lewiston, on Thursday, congressman Jared Golden, a Democrat who had enjoyed an A+ rating from gun rights advocates, said he now regretted his past opposition to an assault weapons ban.

“The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure,” he said.“To the victims and their families, I ask for your forgiveness and support as I seek to put an end to these terrible shootings.”

The RAND Corporation, a non-profit, nonpartisan research and policy organization, found approximately 48% of adults in Maine live in households that own at least one gun – 16th highest state in the US. The CDC, meanwhile, in its most recent data from 2021, showed Maine had a firearm death rate of 12.6 for every 100,000 residents: the 14th-lowest rate among all states.

At Northwestern, a gun shop outside Lewiston, 28-year-old Dan Greenir said the weapon used in Wednesday’s attack had simply “fallen into the wrong hands and the wrong mindset”. A lifelong hunter who, like many, shot deer and game to help his family though the winter, said he’d noticed that more hunters were using the controversial firearm.

skip past newsletter promotion

Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

after newsletter promotion

“It depends on what caliber, because it’s not a traditional rifle, and on how they’re carrying and using it,” he said. He recalled a man using an AR-15 to shoot deer. “He was blasting off and this deer was running and he was still shooting. The frickin’ bullets were coming over my head. I went round to talk to him, ‘Shit, you gotta’ be careful.’”

But store owners said they couldn’t determine if a surge in sales resulted from immediate fears around Card, economic anxiety, generalized fears around global instability and what many perceive as threats to a constitutional right to carry firearms.

Veterans said they were upset that Card – who had not served overseas – had not received adequate help for his mental health issues. “We have 120,000 veterans in Maine and only 30,000 are using healthcare benefits,” said Rudy Wing, who had served as aircraft fueling engineer when marines were being evacuated from Beirut after the US embassy bombing in 1983.

“I think this guy was reaching out because he went somewhere for two weeks,” Wing said, referring to psychiatric care Card received in July when he was referred following a training exercise. Card’s sister-in-law Katie Card told NBC News the family reached out to police and his army reserve base as they “got increasingly concerned” about him over the last couple of months.

Card reportedly left a note leaving instructions for his affairs – an indication that he was suicidal as well as homicidal. That comes amid statistics that show 6,146 veterans died by suicide in 2020 and veterans have an adjusted suicide rate that is 57% greater than the non-veteran US adult population.

While Mainers speak of the state’s traditions around military service and a connection to the natural world around their high levels of gun ownership, it can seep into politics. “We saw the twin towers get taken down, and we know what our history is, so why are our borders open?,” Wing said repeating rightwing talking points around immigration. “We don’t learn and we don’t stop the crap. We just repeat ourselves.”