Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Harris stunned social media on Tuesday night when she claimed on the debate stage that she and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, own guns.
Speaking in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump sought to highlight how Harris has distanced herself from her previous far-left positions since becoming the candidate.
“She has a plan to cut the police budget. She has a plan to confiscate everyone's guns. She has a plan to allow fracking in Pennsylvania and elsewhere,” Trump said. “Until recently, that was her plan.”
But Harris then fired back, revealing that he and Waltz own guns.
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Kamala Harris during the presidential debate, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I've been very clear about where I stand on the issues of fracking and taking guns away from people,” Harris said. “Tim Walz and I are gun owners. We're not taking guns away from anyone, so stop lying about this.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign on Wednesday to ask for details about whether she still owns any guns, and if so, what kind of guns they are, where she keeps them, when she last went out shooting, etc. The Harris campaign did not immediately respond.
“Kamala Harris and I are both gun owners,” Walz wrote on X after the debate. “We're not going to take away your Second Amendment rights. We're going to protect your kids from getting shot in school.”
Harris' gun ownership revelation surprised social media users, many of whom shared old footage of her television appearance during the 2019 election campaign in which she voiced her support for a mandatory gun buyback program.
“Harris is currently claiming that she and Tim Walz are gun owners and wouldn't take away anyone's guns, which we all know is a lie,” Wendy Patterson wrote to her more than 193,300 followers on X. “She also says she supports fracking, which we all know is a lie.”
“Since when has Kamala Harris been a gun owner??? When has she ever spoken about it?” another X user, Alene Wexler, messaged her more than 28,400 followers.
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During the 2019 presidential campaign, then-Senator Harris stressed the need for stricter gun control laws, calling for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris during the presidential debate, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I'm a gun owner and the reason I own a gun, like probably a lot of people, is for personal safety,” Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, told CNN in August 2019. “I was a career prosecutor.”
Four years ago, while answering questions from college students in the audience of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” a student asked Harris whether she supported a mandatory buyback of assault weapons and “why that idea isn't fundamentally unconstitutional to the Second Amendment.”
“I believe a buyback is necessary,” Harris said. “First, let me be clear about what an assault weapon is. Assault weapons are designed to kill large numbers of people quickly. Assault weapons are weapons of war and should not be used on civilian streets. We have seen assault weapons kill babies and police officers.”
Donald Trump gives a thumbs up in the spin room after a debate, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Hannah Beyer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“First, if elected president, if the United States Congress does not show the courage to address this issue, I am prepared to take executive action to ban the importation of assault rifles into our country,” she said. “But there are over 2 million assault rifles on American streets right now and we have to address it. So a buyback program is a good idea.”
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A Harris campaign aide told CNN at the time that Harris owns a handgun she purchased years ago and keeps it locked up as a responsible gun owner.
