A 31-year-old former Maine state senator and 2020 congressional candidate for the state’s 2nd district announced an AR-15 giveaway Thursday.
Eric Brakey, a self-described “Liberty Republican,” is pushing back against calls to confiscate gun owners’ legal weapons by organizing a month-long contest for campaign donors to win a rifle, his campaign announced in a press release on the fourth anniversary of Maine’s “Constitutional Carry” law.
“Maine has proven, once again, that an armed society is a polite society,” Brakey said, according to the release. “We are having an incredible response to our AR-15 giveaway already and expect it to grow as we get closer to November 17th deadline for entries.”
While Democrats in Washington want to take away our guns, I want to give you one.
Private firearm ownership makes us all safer. To celebrate the 4th Anniversary of my Constitutional Carry law and Maine being ranked the “Safest State in America,” we are raffling off an AR-15.
— Eric Brakey (@SenatorBrakey) October 24, 2019
The candidate passed Maine’s “Constitutional Carry” legislation in 2015, which resulted in a drop in overall crime in Maine, and the state now ranks as the number 1 safest state in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The overall crime rate in Maine also dropped 9.3% to 14 offenses per 1,000 people from 2017 to 2018, the Associated Press reported Wednesday, citing the Maine Department of Public Safety.
“If you want a Congressman who will stand up to the gun grabbers in Washington D.C., my record in the state of Maine demonstrates that I am the clear choice for Congress in 2020,” Brakey said.
The Republican is facing Democratic challenger Rep. Jared Golden, opposed Brakey’s “Constitutional Carry” bill when they were both serving as Maine state senators.
“Washington Democrats are openly calling for banning and confiscating AR-15s, and our current Congressman flip-flops whichever way the wind blows. We deserve better,” Brakey tweeted Thursday.
“Functionally, there is no difference between an AR-15 and a hunting rifle. If they can take away one, they can take away the other. As Maine’s next Congressman, I will always protect and defend our 2nd Amendment — just as I did passing Constitutional Carry in the Maine Senate,” Brakey continued.
Functionally, there is no difference between an AR-15 and a hunting rifle. If they can take away one, they can take away the other.
As Maine’s next Congressman, I will always protect and defend our 2nd Amendment — just as I did passing Constitutional Carry in the Maine Senate.
— Eric Brakey (@SenatorBrakey) October 24, 2019
“Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against a fellow American anymore,” the former Texas congressman said during ABC News’ Democratic debate on Sept. 12.
The California senator said she believes “we need to do buy backs” during a Sept. 17 appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” adding that rifles are “weapons of war” that “have been designed to kill a lot of human beings quickly.”
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