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Kamala Harris on Gun Control

Democratic candidate for President (withdrawn); California Senator

 


Walz and I are gun owners--not taking anybody's guns away

TRUMP: She gave up at least 12 and probably 14 or 15 different policies. Like, she was big on defund the police. She wants to confiscate your guns. If she won the election, the day after that election, they'll go back to destroying our country.

HARRIS: This business about taking everyone's guns away. Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We're not taking anybody's guns away. So stop with the continuous lying about this stuff.

Source: ABC News 2024 Presidential debate in Philadelphia , Sep 10, 2024

Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines

She'll ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require universal background checks, and support red flag laws that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. She will also continue to invest in funding law enforcement, including the hiring and training of officers and people to support them, and will build upon proven gun violence prevention programs that have helped reduce violent crime throughout the country.
Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website KamalaHarris.com , Sep 9, 2024

#1 killer of kids: gun violence; not cancer; not accidents

Vice President Harris in a Moderated Conversation with White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention: "Everyday gun violence is as serious as mass shootings--any life that has been impacted by gun violence is one life too many. We have to think about this in the many ways that the injury occurs, which includes, of course, the tragedy of life that is lost but also the trauma that is a additional form of injury that can exist for a lifetime if we don't put resources into calling it what it is and putting the resources into diagnosis and treatment.

Let's think about it in terms of the tragedy that gun violence in America is the number-one killer of the children of America--not car accidents, not cancer--gun violence. One in five Americans has a family member that was killed by gun violence. Gun violence--Black victims of gun violence--10 times more likely to be a victim of gun violence. So, it's a real issue that requires everybody's priority in terms of addressing it.

Source: Vice Presidential 2024 press release: "Gun Violence" , Jun 18, 2024

We need red flag laws & school mental health counselors

I'm in favor of the Second Amendment. I also believe there is no reason why we have assault weapons on the streets of America. They are weapons of war. We need an assault weapons ban.

I'm in favor of the Second Amendment, and we need universal background checks. I'm in favor of the Second Amendment, and we need red flag laws.

And we need the people in the United States Congress to have the courage to stand up to the gun lobbyists and take action around what is just reasonable.

Universal background checks--you just might want to know before someone can buy a lethal weapon if they've been found to be a danger to themselves or others. So, there are solutions. And that's part of the work that I'm doing with the White House Gun Violence Prevention Office is to work on those solutions, including what we have recently done through that office, which is to put a billion dollars into hiring mental health counselors in our public schools to help address the mental health aspect of this.

Source: Vice Presidential 2024 press release: "Gun Violence" , Jun 18, 2024

Common sense reform: immediately ban bump stocks

Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris on the Supreme Court Decision in Garland v. Cargill: Weapons of war have no place on the streets of a civil society. That is why Democrats and Republicans alike supported the federal government banning bump stocks after they were used to fire over 1,000 rounds into a crowded music festival in Las Vegas, killing 60 people in the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

Unfortunately, today's Supreme Court ruling strikes down this important, commonsense regulation on devices that convert semiautomatic rifles into weapons that can fire hundreds of bullets per minute.

While the Supreme Court has once again rolled back progress, we will not allow the victims and survivors of 1 October to be forgotten. President Biden and I fought to pass the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years, but our work is not done. We are calling on Congress to immediately ban bump stocks. We do not have a moment to spare nor a life to spare.

Source: White House Vice Presidential 2024 press release: "Cargill" , Jun 14, 2024

Uvalde response: commonsense restrictions on weapons of war

We will never forget the 19 children and two teachers who were killed in their classrooms during a senseless mass shooting carried out with a weapon of war. The families in Uvalde have channeled their anguish into advocacy--demanding action to change the unacceptable fact that gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in our nation.

With their help, President Biden and I fought to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years. [We also] established the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. But we know more must be done.

I am continuing to call on Congress and state legislators throughout America to have the courage to act by banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, passing red flag laws, and making background checks universal. These commonsense solutions will save lives and ensure that fewer children, families, and communities experience the trauma and pain that Uvalde has suffered.

Source: White House Vice Presidential 2024 press release: "Uvalde" , Jan 18, 2024

Gun violence now the number one cause of death of children

Q: Gun violence is a major epidemic in this country. Talk about the work you're doing to end gun violence and breaking cycles of violence in community.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Every life lost is one life too many. It also, in terms of that loss, reverberate through families and communities--and the resulting trauma, often undiagnosed and untreated, being the lingering effect of it all. Gun violence is now the number one cause of death of children in America--not some health disease--gun violence is the number one cause of death for children in America. One in five Americans know somebody who was killed by a gun. It is a false choice that some would push to say you either support the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone's guns away. That's a false choice. The reality is that we need reasonable gun safety laws. For example, assault weapons are by design used to kill a lot of human beings quickly. There is no place for an assault weapon on the streets of civil America.

Source: Remarks at the NAACP 114th Annual Convention , Jul 19, 2023

Renew assault weapons ban & universal background checks

Assault weapons are by design used to kill a lot of human beings quickly. There is no place for an assault weapon on the streets of civil America. We need to renew the assault weapons ban.

We need to have universal background checks. Why? It's reasonable to say that we might want to know if somebody has been found by a court to be a danger to themselves or others before they could buy a lethal weapon. It's just reasonable. You might want to know if someone has committed a crime of great violence before you let them buy a gun.

We have to fight back against those who would say this false choice, because I support the 2nd Amendment; I also support reasonable gun safety laws.

Without Congress having acted, our administration has been able to pass some of the most significant gun safety legislation in 30 years. But it's not enough. We need to have Congress to be prepared to deal with the big issues and do it in a way that is just about saving lives. And it's just reasonable.

Source: Remarks at the NAACP 114th Annual Convention , Jul 19, 2023

Mandatory buyback for 5 million assault weapons

Q: [to Elizabeth Warren]: you support a voluntary gun buyback of assault style weapons; why not a mandatory one?

Senator Warren: I want to use the method we used with machine guns. We registered them. We put in a huge penalty if you didn't register them and a huge tax on them and let people turn them in, and it got machine guns out of the hands of people.

Q: Senator Harris, you think the buyback should be mandatory?

Senator Harris: Five million assault weapons are on the streets of America today. During the course of this debate, eight people will die from gun violence. We need action, and Congress has had years to act and failed because they do not have the courage. When I'm elected, I'll give them 100 days to pull their act together, put a bill on my desk for signature and if they don't, I will take executive action and put in place a comprehensive background check requirement and ban the importation of assault weapons into our country, because it is time to act.

Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate , Oct 15, 2019

Trump didn't pull trigger, but he tweeted out the ammunition

The idea that we would wait for Congress, which has just done nothing to act [on gun control], is just overlooking the fact that every day in America, our babies are going to school to have drills where they are learning about how they have to hide in a closet or crouch in a corner if there is a mass shooter roaming the hallways of their school.

I was talking about this at one of my town halls, and-and this child who was eight years old came up to me--it was like it was a secret between the two of us, and he tugged on my jacket and he said, "I had to have one of those drills." It is traumatizing our children.

In El Paso [after a recent mass shooting] they said, "Well, do you think Trump is responsible for what happened?" And I said, "Well, look, I mean, obviously, he didn't pull the trigger, but he's certainly been tweeting out the ammunition."

Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston , Sep 12, 2019

Executive action on gun control if Congress won't do it

The problem is Congress has not had the courage to act which is why when elected president, I will give Congress 100 days to bring all these good ideas together and put a bill on my desk for signature. If they do not, I will take executive action and put in place the most comprehensive background check policy we've had. I will require the ATF to take the licenses of gun dealers who violate the law. I will ban by executive order the importation of assault weapons.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (second night in Miami) , Jun 27, 2019

If Congress won't act on guns, I will, by executive action

If by my 100th day in office Congress fails to put a bill on my desk, I'm prepared to take executive action. Anyone who sells more than five guns a year will be required to perform background checks. I'm prepared to direct the ATF to remove the licenses of gun dealers who fail to follow the law. 90% of guns associated with crime have been sold by 5% of the gun dealers. We need to take their licenses away.
Source: CNN SOTU 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls , May 12, 2019

If Congress won't pass gun laws, do it by executive action

I will give Congress 100 days to pass reasonable gun safety laws. If they fail, then I will take executive action. I will require that anyone who sells more than five guns a year [be] required to do background checks. I will require that for any gun dealer that breaks the law, the ATF take their license. The current administration took fugitives off the list of prohibited people. I'd put them back on. Fugitives from justice should not be able to purchase a handgun or any kind of weapon.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back , Apr 22, 2019

No reason we have assault weapons in a civil society

While fielding a question about gun violence, Harris called out Congress for the lack of gun control legislation. She even suggested "harsh" means to encourage Congress to introduce a new bill. Harris started her discussion about gun reform by saying: "You can be in favor of the second amendment and also understand that there is no reason in a civil society that we have assault weapons around communities that can kill babies and police officers."

Harris became even more impassioned while discussing the inaction by congress following the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting that took the lives of 20 children between the ages 6 and 7. She said: "I think somebody should have required all those members of Congress to go in a room, in a locked room, no press, nobody else, and look at the autopsy photographs of those babies. And then you vote your conscience."

Source: Yahoo Entertainment Video on 2020 presidential hopefuls , Jan 29, 2019

We cannot tolerate society with our babies being slaughtered

Sen. Kamala Harris is increasingly positioning herself for a what is expected to be a crowded Democratic primary for the White House in 2020, allowing her to seek the progressive mantle.

Harris has sought to highlight her positions on gun control while carving out an identity as a hard-core critic of the National Rifle Association. This week, she was quick to highlight an attack by the NRA's chief at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "I am not going to be silenced by attacks from the NRA or anyone else," she wrote on Twitter, minutes after NRA chief Wayne LaPierre labeled Harris and other Democrats as "new European-style socialists bearing down upon us."

Last week, after the nation began another discussion on gun control following the shooting at a Florida high school, Harris immediately weighed in on MSNBC.

"We cannot tolerate a society and live in a country with any level of pride when our babies are being slaughtered," she said in a video that quickly went viral.

Source: Amie Parnes in The Hill on 2020 presidential hopefuls , Feb 26, 2018

No gun ownership for dangerous convicts or mentally ill

Harris said she wants to bring a rational approach to issues such as drug policy and gun control that doesn't cast them as all-or-nothing choices, though she was took liberal positions on those issues. "It's just pretty simple, reasonable stuff. If somebody has been convicted of a felony that proves them to be a dangerous person, they should not be able to own a gun. If somebody has been found by a court to be mentally ill to the point that they are danger to themselves or other people they should not be able to own or possess a gun," she said.
Source: San Gabriel Valley Tribune on 2016 California Senate debate , Apr 25, 2016

Rated 7% by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun control voting record.

Harris scores 7% by NRA on pro-gun rights policies - NRA Political Victory Fund

While widely recognized today as a major political force and as America`s foremost defender of Second Amendment rights, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has, since its inception, been the premier firearms education organization in the world. But our successes would not be possible without the tireless efforts and countless hours of service our nearly three million members have given to champion Second Amendment rights and support NRA programs.

The following ratings are based on lifetime voting records on gun issues and the results of a questionaire sent to all Congressional candidates; the NRA assigned a letter grade (with A+ being the highest and F being the lowest).

Source: NRA website 10-NRA on Aug 11, 2010

Supports restrictions on right to bear arms.

Harris supports the CC survey question on Second Amendment

The Christian Coalition Voter Guide inferred whether candidates agree or disagree with the statement, 'Further Restrictions on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms' The Christian Coalition notes, "You can help make sure that voters have the facts BEFORE they cast their votes. We have surveyed candidates in the most competitive congressional races on the issues that are important to conservatives."

Source: Christian Coalition Survey 16_CC10 on Nov 8, 2016

Co-sponsored background check for every firearm sale.

Harris co-sponsored the Bipartisan Background Checks Act

H.R.8: To require a background check for every firearm sale. This Act may be cited as the `Background Check Expansion Act`.