At last week’s presidential debate, VP Kamala Harris surprised a lot of people when, in the middle of answering a question about gun control, she said: “Tim Walz and I are both gun owners.” We knew Gov. Walz was a gun owner and a hunter, but we did not know that about Kamala Harris. Well, last night, VP Harris took part in an amazing town hall event in Michigan, moderated by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah brought up that moment in the debate and Oprah was like, no, we didn’t know that about you. Harris spoke with nuance about being a gun owner and being pro-gun control:
Vice President Harris said that if someone were to break into her house, they would get shot while talking with Oprah Winfrey about hot-button issues during a Thursday night campaign event.
“If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot,” she said, laughing. “I probably should not have said that. My staff will deal with that later.”
Her comments came in response to when Winfrey brought up that she’s a gun owner. The vice president has publicly said that she is a gun owner, and she mentioned it again during the debate last week against former President Trump. There was a portion of the Thursday event on gun violence prevention, during which a survivor of the Georgia school shooting earlier this month spoke before Harris. She was in class when she was shot twice and appeared at the event still in a cast. The Apalachee High School shooting occurred earlier this month when Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student, opened fire and killed four people.
During the segment, Harris discussed her gun violence prevention platform, which involves pushing for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.
“I think for far too long on the issue of gun violence, some people have been pushing a really false choice to say you’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away. I’m in favor of the second amendment, and I’m in favor of assault weapons bans, universal background checks, red flag laws,” Harris said, prompting Winfrey to ask about her gun ownership.
Even though I’m sure these comments surprised most people – they definitely surprised me – Harris has spoken before about her gun ownership. CNN’s sources say that Harris owns a small pistol, which is secured inside her LA home, and that she does not have a second gun at her home in DC (the Naval Observatory). When she was a senator, she said publicly that she was a gun owner for “for personal safety… I was a career prosecutor.” As in, you never know when one of the bad guys you put away is going to pull up to your house.
Kamala Harris: “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot. Probably should not have said that.” pic.twitter.com/hlpGKUZAik
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 20, 2024
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.