Asked about gun violence in America during Tuesday's vice presidential debate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) supported increased security in schools, while Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said there were no solutions. He emphasized the need to respect Second Amendment rights.
Vance first brought up school security when he was asked whether parents should be prosecuted for gun crimes committed by their children. He said whether parents should be held responsible depends on the circumstances, adding: “We don't want to send our children to schools that we don't feel are safe.”
“Unfortunately, I think we need to strengthen the security of our schools. We have to lock our doors better. We have to make our doors stronger. We've got to strengthen the windows, and of course we've got to have more school resource officers because, like, magically, with a wave of a wand, we've got to have more school resource officers. [get the] “Taking guns out of the hands of bad guys” is not realistic, the senator said.
Walz argued that other countries, such as Finland, have not seen the kind of school shootings that the United States has experienced, so there are clearly effective solutions. He spoke about his personal experience as a gun owner, alluded to Vice President Harris' gun ownership, and said taking guns away from law-abiding citizens is not the solution.
“They won't let this happen. Even though we have high gun ownership rates in this country, there are reasonable things we can do to change the situation. And it doesn't violate the Second Amendment. , the idea of putting some of these weapons out there just doesn't make sense,'' Walz said.
The governor also rejected the idea of making schools look like “forts”.
“We know there are countries around the world where children don't practice this kind of training, so is that where we have to go? They remain children. We… We owe it to them to fix it,” Walz said.
