She first mentioned owning a gun in 2019 and has consistently supported stronger background checks and reinstating a federal assault weapons ban.
In her first solo TV interview of the election cycle, Vice President Kamala Harris told a visibly shocked Oprah Winfrey on Thursday that an intruder who breaks into her home would be “getting shot, sorry.”
With a laugh, she followed up: “I probably shouldn’t have said that. My staff will deal with it later.”
“I’m in favor of the Second Amendment, and I’m in favor of assault weapons bans, universal background checks, and red flag laws”, Harris said on Thursday at the “Unite for America” event. “These are just common sense.”
Harris was responding to a question from Oprah about her personal gun ownership, which the Democratic nominee casually revealed, to the surprise of many viewers, during the Sept. 10 debate with former President Donald Trump.
“Here’s my point, Oprah. I’m not trying to take everyone’s guns away”, Harris said Thursday, repeating a version of what she said on the debate stage.
On that stage, in response to Trump’s claim that his opponent “wants to confiscate your guns”, the Democratic nominee fired back: “Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking anybody’s guns away, so stop with the constant lying about this.”
Newsweek has repeatedly reached out to the Harris campaign with detailed questions about her gun ownership, including the type of firearm she owns and whether she had a concealed-carry license in California, where she owns a home. As a district attorney and then attorney general of that state, it’s unclear whether she would have needed to obtain such a permit.
The campaign has not responded to those inquiries.
The acknowledgment that both candidates on the Democratic ticket own guns reflects a broader campaign strategy to appeal to moderate and even right-leaning voters who may be wary of a second Trump term but still have reservations about the Democrats’ positions on hot-button issues like gun control.
