During Tuesday's presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris revealed a fact about herself that is perhaps surprising to some: She is a gun owner. That was nearly the only mention of guns at the debate, however, leaving some still confused about what her legislative stance on guns is.
As a presidential candidate, Harris has disavowed her previous stance calling for a gun buyback but has remained firm on her support for red flag laws and a ban on assault weapons. On the debate stage, Harris rejected former President Donald Trump ’s claim that she supports taking away weapons from gun owners, saying she and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), are gun owners.
“This business about taking everyone's guns away, Tim Walz and I are both gun owners,” Harris said Tuesday night. "We’re not taking anybody’s guns away. So stop with the continuous lying about this stuff."
Walz has frequently spoken about being a gun owner and avid hunter, but Harris has remained quiet on her own gun ownership since entering the race in July. She previously said she owned a gun during a 2019 town hall when she was running for president.
“I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do — for personal safety,” Harris told reporters after a campaign event in 2019. “I was a career prosecutor.”
At the time, a Harris campaign aide said she owned a handgun, which she purchased years ago and keeps locked up as a responsible gun owner. The Harris campaign confirmed to the Washington Examiner that this is still the case five years later.
The majority of gun owners also say they have one for personal protection, according to the Pew Research Center.
It is not uncommon for those working in law enforcement to own guns for their own personal safety. People in positions such as parole officers, police, and district attorneys, like Harris once was, often own guns out of concern that someone they have encountered in the legal system could retaliate in revenge against them one day, according to Vox .
When Harris ran for president in 2019, she embraced a more liberal stance on guns than she now has. Though the moderators at Tuesday night's debate didn't ask a question about gun rights, there are signs that since ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket, she has softened on gun control.
Her campaign told the New York Times in July that she will not push for a mandatory buyback of certain guns as president but supports tightening gun restrictions. She has called for tighter gun laws , including universal background checks and red-flag laws . Harris does support a ban on assault weapons and increased funding for mental healthcare.
In her capacity as vice president, Harris supported the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which created new penalties for "straw purchasing," strengthened laws to keep firearms from domestic abusers and gun traffickers, and created new funding for states to administer red-flag laws.
The national debate surrounding guns is typically framed as anti-gun liberals who want to take away all guns against pro-gun conservatives who do not want to enact rules and regulations on guns, but the reality may lay somewhere in the middle.
While support for measures that ban assault weapons is mixed , the majority of gun owners in America support universal background checks, permits, as well as extreme risk laws that are aimed at keeping guns away from people predisposed to violence, such as domestic abusers.
In 2019, she also addressed these complicated feelings many people feel about gun ownership and the Second Amendment in the context of increased gun violence, including mass shootings, the county continues to face.
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“We are being offered a false choice,” she said .
“You’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away,” Harris continued. "It’s a false choice that is born out of a lack of courage from leaders who must recognize and agree that there are some practical solutions to what is a clear problem in our country."
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