PORTLAND, Maine —
Question:
Does Sen. Angus King really not have any bills that have become laws?
Reason:
After announcing his gun legislation the last week of November, Sen. King was criticized by the Maine GOP, calling his proposal a 'gun grab.' Now in a Facebook post, the state political party made the claim, 'By the way: Angus King has never, ever—not once— gotten one of his bills signed into law.'
Answer:
The claim that none of Sen. King's bills have become laws is not true.
We can Verify this by looking at GovTrack, a project by the company Civic Impulse.
According to the legislative online tracker, you can see Sen. King has passed seven bills that have either become laws or been added to larger pieces of legislation.
But why put something that is blatantly untrue on a political page? According to UMaine political science professor and department chair Mark Brewer, it's becoming more common.
"It's a lot easier to spread misinformation than it ever has been," Brewer said.
He made a point of saying that anyone with a smartphone can spread misinformation today.
Brewer added that such a phenomenon can occur more with hotly debated ideas such as gun reform.
"Both sides are competing for an ever-shrinking share of voters on election day," he said.
Brewer said undecided voters are targeted by untrue claims to stoke fear or anger.
"Anyone in the middle—you can have [an] influence on them. That is an incredibly important ability to have."