Citing past statements and policies of the Democratic presidential ticket, former President Donald Trump this week told Second Amendment advocates that Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate plan to confiscate legally owned guns once elected.
“Let’s call it what it is. Really, it is gun confiscation. That is a violation of your constitutional rights,” Trump said in a video address aired at the national Gun Owners of America convention.
“Kamala Harris has supported gun confiscation schemes throughout her career, and she does it constantly, and that’s what she wants, and she’s looking for mandatory buybacks. We’re not going to let that happen,” Trump added.
Harris has not been shy about her goal of taking guns away. She has backed a ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles and limits to magazines that hold cartridges.
At her first campaign rally, for example, Harris said, “We, who believe that every person should have the freedom to live safe from the terror of gun violence, will finally pass red-flag laws, universal background checks, and an assault-weapons ban.”
Her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), has made similar statements and pledged to ban AR-15-style firearms, which are among the most popular in America.
Trump warned that Harris and Walz plan to act as “dictators” in office. “That’s really putting her right alongside some of the most dangerous dictators anywhere in history,” Trump said.
And, he added, Harris has a long history against gun owners. “As California attorney general, she opposed concealed carry permits for law-abiding citizens unless they could demonstrate that extraordinary need to carry a gun beyond concern for personal safety. The need was so strong that practically nobody was able to get one. That’s really a radical position. But in contrast, I will always defend your constitutional right to protect yourself when I’m president.”
Trump, who is backed by several gun groups, including the National Rifle Association, blocked most gun control as president, bowing only to a ban on bump stocks. The Supreme Court eventually overturned that decision.
He has been urging gun owners to get out and vote. A majority do, but Trump wants more to vote.
“I need every single gun owner to make a plan to go and vote. The one thing with gun owners, and I don’t know why, maybe they just have a certain way about them. Maybe they’re rebellious, but they don’t vote. They got to get out and vote. If the gun owners of this country voted, just a small percentage of them, we would have a victory like you’ve never seen,” he told Gun Owners of America in the video shown at its convention in Knoxville, Tennessee, last weekend.
Gun Owners of America shared the video with Secrets on Wednesday.
SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS
“Without a doubt, this was President Trump’s strongest take on gun rights to date, and coupled with Sen. [J.D.] Vance [R-OH] as his running mate, gun owners have a clear choice this November,” said Tim Macy, the chairman of Gun Owners of America.
“Our rights are absolutely on the ballot, and it’s essential that gun owners do everything we can to turn out the pro-gun vote and ensure Kamala Harris is not the next occupant of the White House,” added Erich Pratt, the group’s senior vice president.