President Biden’s announcement that he will not seek a second term has unsettled the November election in a dramatic way. Former president Trump’s victory for a second term appeared to be in question until a concerning debate performance by Biden skewed polling in his favor. This effect only strengthened during the following weeks, when Biden insisted on staying in the race despite increasing pressure to withdraw from politicians and celebrity donors. Now that Biden has passed the baton to Kamala Harris, however, the outcome is less certain.
Although Ms. Harris has a long public history as a former prosecutor, attorney general, and senator, her platform as president is somewhat unknown. About gun control, Ms. Harris is likely to follow the lead of President Biden, albeit without his personal stake in reinstating the assault weapons ban.
He famously championed the 1994 Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act under the Clinton administration and has always sought a way to bring it back. Kamala Harris, as vice president, has had to stick to Biden’s talking points on gun control throughout this term. Now that the spotlight is on her, what can we expect from a Harris presidency about gun control?
So far, the current vice president has been vague about her presidential plans but her track record as a senator indicates that she could be more aggressive than her predecessor. As a representative from California, Harris holds beliefs about gun control that are more left leaning than most of the country, despite her claim to be a gun owner herself.
During Harris’ campaign for the presidential nomination in 2019, she famously pledged to take executive action on gun control if Congress failed to act within her first 100 days, stating that the government had had long enough to act. Her plans included federal universal background checks, regulations on private party sales, re-instating the assault weapons ban, and restricting those convicted of a hate crime from purchasing weapons. During her time as a senator, she supported multiple plans to restrict gun ownership, including one that promoted a buyback program for assault weapons.
Harris has repeatedly pushed back on the dichotomous notion that you are either a proponent of taking guns away or supporting the Second Amendment, instead pushing for reform rather than removal of guns. Without the constraint of President Biden’s agenda, it will be interesting to see what her plans will be if she is in the Oval Office.
Upon receiving President Biden’s blessing as his successor, she has already stated that a goal of her tenure would be to ensure “the freedom to be safe from gun violence,” and has received funding from the Giffords group for advertising. The husband of the gun control group’s founder, former congresswoman and assassination survivor Gabby Giffords, is on the short list to be Harris’ pick for the vice presidency. If Mark Giffords takes the position, that would be a clear indication of how important gun control legislation victories are to her legacy as president. Harris has certainly learned a great deal during her years as vice president and looks to be a formidable opponent for Donald Trump in November.
Gun Control and the 2024 Presidential Campaign