Vice President Kamala Harris revealed this week that she owns a gun that has been restricted from being purchased in California amid litigation over the state’s gun laws.
“I have a Glock and – I have for a long time,” Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, said in an interview. released on Monday on CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” “My background is in law enforcement.” He added that he threw the gun at the shooting range.
A Harris campaign aide told NBC News it was identical to the gun In 2019, it was mentioned that he owned it during his previous presidential run and is “safe at home in California.”
Harris’ exposé sparked a wave of criticism from Second Amendment groups and the conservative media. accused him hypocrisy given people’s longstanding support for measures to restrict the purchase of certain types of weapons. They also questioned how he got the gun in the first place, given California’s strict gun purchase requirements.
The Harris campaign has not said where or when he bought the Glock, what model it is or what storage devices it uses. Harris said last month That the gun was for self-defense and that “if anyone enters my house, they will be shot.” Harris’ current residence is guarded by armed Secret Service agents.
Under a 2001 California law protested to the courthandguns bought or sold in the state must meet certain product safety standardsand the state protects list of firearms approved for sale.
Some older Glock models and other non-standard pistols have been released. But the list does not include Glock pistols. Released since 2010because they do not have mandatory safety features such as magazine separators, which prevent the guns from firing when the magazines are removed. Glock did not respond to a request for comment.
For the officials of some law enforcement agencies, there are benefits “for use during the performance of their official duties”, as well as “for personal use”. state Department of Justice. Those released include employees of the Department of Justice and district prosecutor’s offices.
Harris has a long history as a prosecutor, beginning in 1990 in Alameda County, California. He was elected San Francisco District Attorney in 2002 and has overseen many high-profile cases.
The campaign did not say whether Harris bought the gun before the law or the restrictions on Glocks went into effect, or if he was exempted to buy his handgun, and the state Department of Justice did not immediately comment.
NBC News could not confirm Wednesday whether Harris was eligible for exemption in his previous positions at the California attorney general’s or local prosecutor’s offices. Harris as attorney general in 2013 cleared the way for the new provision of the handgun safety law to take effect.
Gun rights advocates criticized Harris for owning a firearm while arguing for policies that limit what guns people are allowed to buy. He supported before forced withdrawal of assault weapons. It has ever since resigned his positionhowever, he continues to support a federal assault weapons ban. In 2008, he led a group of district attorneys He appealed to the US Supreme Court not to impose a broad ban on handguns in Washington, arguing that it would interfere with the power of state and local governments to create their own firearms laws; the trial at the end repealed the law.
“Out of one side of his mouth, he sees the social benefit of firearms to him. But he doesn’t want anyone else to have access to the most effective means of defending themselves or their families,” said CD Michel, a California attorney who represents gun rights advocates. He sued California over his handgun safety law. “I think he’s actually a hypocrite.”
Chris Brown, a leading gun safety advocate, has argued that there is no conflict between Harris owning a gun and his support for restricting the ownership of certain types of weapons.
“I think it’s fantastic that he’s talking about gun ownership — he’s not trying to hide it from the public,” said Brown, president of Brady, which advocates for gun violence prevention.
“The general public understands that there is no daylight between believing in the Second Amendment and owning guns and believing in life-saving policies,” he said.
Harris has argued that there is no conflict between his belief in gun rights and his support for policies such as assault weapons bans, universal background checks and red flag laws.
“I think for too long on the issue of gun violence, some people have made the really wrong choice to suggest that you’re either pro-Second Amendment or you want to take away everybody’s guns,” he said. he said at the campaign event last month.