United States Vice President Kamala Harris revealed that she is the owner of a gun and that she is “not taking anybody’s guns away”, as she sat down for a solo interview on Friday.
During the interview, the 59-year-old Democratic US vice president appealed to moderate voters in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, reiterating that she is a firearm owner who wants to preserve Americans’ gun rights while maintaining “reasonable” gun safety laws.
“We’re not taking anybody’s guns away. I support the Second Amendment (of the US Constitution) and I support reasonable gun safety laws,” Harris said.
Harris in the interview cited her raw experience as a prosecutor and how it brought her intimately close to the victims of gun violence.
“I have personally prosecuted homicide cases,” she said. “I have personally looked at autopsies. I have personally seen what assault weapons do to the human body.
“And so I feel very strongly that it is consistent with the Second Amendment and your right to own a gun to also say we need an assault weapons ban. They’re tools of war.”
Harris said she also backs more popular policies including universal background checks on gun purchasers. “The majority of NRA members support that,” she said, referring to the powerful lobbying group, the National Rifle Association.
