As some of you know, I live in Maine. I am safe. My family is safe. I don't have answers tonight, only anger and sadness.

Lewiston, Maine—where a mass shooter killed at least 18 people Wednesday—is in Southern Maine, about 6 hours south of where I live.

The population of our state is only about 1 million people, a fraction of the population of New York City. In all of 2021 there were 21 murders in Maine. In 2022 there were 29 murders in our state. Wednesday one man with a gun murdered at least 18 people.

The photo is the Maine I live in—the rural, forested, sparsely populated area along the Canadian border. Everyone I grew up with owns guns for hunting which is still a way people feed their families. Guns here aren't toys or flexes—they're deadly tools we're taught to respect.

The gun used to murder people Wednesday was designed for hunting only one type of prey—humans.