It's a political tale as old as... well, at least a few decades: a Democrat who represents a pro-Second Amendment district routinely proclaims their support for the right to keep and bear arms (and votes that way as well), but then abruptly reverse course when they decide to run for higher office.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand were once "A"-rated by the NRA when they served in the House of Representatives, only to ditch their pro-2A point of view when they ran for statewide office. Tim Walz followed the same script when he went from representing a rural district in Congress to running for governor of Minnesota.
Now it's former state Senator Troy Jackson's turn. Jackson was once "A" rated by the NRA as well, but over the past couple of years had a change of heart on 2A issues as he eyed the governor's office currently occupied by Janet Mills. Jackson announced his campaign back in May, and is now denouncing his previous votes in opposition to gun control by claiming he's "evolved" on the issue. Specifically, Jackson's endorsing a "red flag" referendum that will be on the ballot this fall, and in a new op-ed he highlights the fact that puts him at odds with the NRA.
I know how this governor’s race is going to go. My opponents on both sides of the aisle (and in between) will use this endorsement against me. They will say I was with the NRA then and am against them now. They’re right, because here’s the truth: I was wrong.
Here’s the other thing I know: refusing to change, even after the worst mass shooting in Maine’s history, would be the real failure. Evolving isn’t a weakness. It’s courage. It’s what leaders should do when faced with hard truths.
I don't think Jackson is "evolving." He's just pandering to the gun control groups who are likely to spend plenty of money backing the Democrat most hostile to the Second Amendment,
At the same time, Jackson's insulting the intelligence of Maine voters by claiming that the "red flag" proposal on the ballot is compatible with the "yellow flag" statute already in place.
Let’s also be honest: the red flag law doesn’t replace the yellow flag law. It doesn’t erase it. They can and should exist together — they are not rivals. They are complementary tools in the toolbox. Law enforcement officers across Maine will tell you they need more tools, not fewer, to protect lives. And with fewer local police departments and law enforcement officers, families need options in a crisis.
Why would anyone use the "yellow flag" law if there's another law in place that offers less due process and lowers the bar to confiscate someone's firearms? If Jackson really believes these two things are complementary of one another he's a moron. If that was really the case, don't you think the gun control lobby would be fighting to put "yellow flag" laws in place in states that have already adopted "red flag" laws? Instead, they're just fighting like hell to replace "yellow flag" law in the the one state that's adopted a more stringent process for removing someone's ability to possess firearms because of their supposed danger to themselves or others.
Jackson claims he still believes in "responsible gun ownership" and "Maine’s sporting traditions", but he doesn't say anything to suggest he believes our Second Amendment rights shouldn't be infringed. He also tries to rewrite history by claiming that the response to the Lewiston shooting was "doing nothing."
A bipartisan majority of the Maine legislature adopted Mills' proposal to expand access to mental health care, particularly in rural parts of the state. Democrats also managed to pass a 72-hour waiting period on all gun sales in 2024, as well as expanding background checks to include private party advertised sales. Jackson can't be ignorant of those measures. He was serving in the Maine Senate and voted for them, reversing his opposition to a waiting period, which he held as recently as 2023.
So why is he now claiming that lawmakers (including himself) did nothing in response to the Lewiston shooting? That's old news, and it's certainly not going to be enough to win the endorsement (and scads of campaign cash) from groups like Everytown for Gun Safety. Jackson knows how to play this game, and all he has to do is follow the same script that politicians like Hochul, Gillibrand, and Walz have used in the past to garner the financial support of the gun control lobby in his bid for higher office.
