Shawn Moody, a Maine GOP candidate seeking to succeed controversial far right Governor Paul LePage has refused to answer questions on gun issues following the national attention to the Parkland school shooting. But on a radio show this morning he did offer some advice:
“When you think about commonsense things, practical things we could do like, right now, there are fire extinguishers, dry chemical fire extinguishers in every commercial building, school, almost within a hundred feet of wherever you are. And a fire extinguisher can be a great deterrent if somebody gets out of control, or somebody, if anything happens, a teacher, anybody, can break that glass, set the alarm off, grab that chemical fire extinguisher and spray it towards somebody. And I’ll tell you right now that could put them to their knees.”
The avoidance dance that GOP primary candidates do to ensure NRA support has been brought to a new level of foolishness. Moody is likely shooting himself in the foot since his timidness to address the guns issue with the standard line of more guns probably earns him a big demerit with GOP activists now even taking pot shots at him.
We could spend a great deal of time discussing fire extinguishers in schools or nightclubs or cinemas or workplaces or churches or concerts or...just about anywhere. The point is that Moody’s ducking of the issue is a disservice to voters and future shooting victims. His policy plan is plan on no policy.
Moody is a sort of semi-serious candidate for Governor who came in 4th in 2010 as an independent with a paltry 5% of the vote which helped Paul LePage squeeze into his first term. He is well known in Maine for a chain of auto collision repair shops and he gets good marks as a businessman. He remained an independent until October of 2017 and then declared his intention to run in the GOP primary. Interestingly, LePage’s daughter and chief political consultant both lined up behind Moody almost immediately much to the chagrin of other LePage loyalists already in the race. The LePage operatives appear to like a blank slate and blank stare upon which they can paint their far right politics.
Well Shawn Moody is launched now into the world of real politics and it seems that his first opportunity to weigh in on a most significant issue of the day is a public relations disaster brought on by his desire to sidestep. Keep dancing Shawn...right out the door.
NOTE: I do want to be real clear on one thing. if a teacher ever stopped a shooter with a fire extinguisher, she’d be my hero. But a gubernatorial candidate who suggests this method in lieu of addressing actual policies on gun violence is decidedly not.