Is Kamala Harris a gun owner?

Following the first and possibly only 2024 Presidential debate, people are wondering whether Kamala Harris is truly a gun owner, particularly considering a brief exchange between the two candidates about gun laws.

During the debate, Donald Trump used a very common Republican talking point that basically claims that Democrats are trying to take away people’s guns. Specifically, Trump said about the Vice President, “She is destroying our country. She has a plan to defund the police. She has a plan to confiscate everybody’s gun.”

Kamala Harris responded by saying, “Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking anybody’s guns away.”

Was this just an off-the-cuff response from Harris, or has she talked about gun ownership before? Also, is there any truth whatsoever to Harris wanting to confiscate “everybody’s” gun?

Back in 2019, while meeting a members from the group called Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America, the then Senator spoke candidly about gun violence, and responded to the idea that one is either for the ownership of guns or against it entirely.

Harris initially admitted, “I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do — for personal safety.”

She then began to explain the fault in the arguments over gun laws, which is a point she would be wise to reiterate during her present campaign for President.

“We are being offered a false choice. You’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away. 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.”

Harris has not relaxed this stance while in office, announcing expanded firearm background checks under the Safer Communities Act in 2022, which fights the illegal trafficking of firearms. It has also created laws targeting previous loopholes that did not do enough to prevent gun violence. As the bipartisan act reads, it “prohibits anyone convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence from owning firearms when those crimes occurred in the context of a dating relationship.”

It is estimated that over 10,000 purchases of firearms since 2023 have been denied because of this law.

Harris has also been instrumental in introducing the “Two Gun Safety Solution” earlier this year, which enforces what are called “Red Flag Laws.” The laws, as described by a White House release, “create a civil process for law enforcement (and often times family members) to seek a judicial order that a person is a danger to themselves or others and should temporarily lose the ability to purchase and possess firearms. The laws have due process protections that ensure people’s rights are respected, but also enable a concrete way to intervene.”

Harris does not appear to have any desire to take everybody’s guns away. Furthermore, Donald Trump’s single best point made during the debate can be used against him, in regards to his claims of Harris supporting unconditional gun confiscation. Trump has stated that Kamala Harris has been in office for four years, and instead of claiming what she will change, she should simply have changed it already, or should go about doing so now.

Therefore, if Kamala Harris wanted to take everybody’s guns away, then why does everybody still have guns?

Being a former prosecutor has molded Harris’ views on gun safety, and she and Joe Biden have taken the steps to make a difference in preventing gun violence. Perhaps the only thing that Harris and her campaign has failed to do in this regards is to properly promote these changes that she has either co-sponsored, introduced, or fought for. Doing so would likely only help her campaign, but it would also help put to rest Trump’s accusations.