The school shooting in Georgia this week underscored the chasm between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump, as well as between their respective running mates, on guns.
Authorities say a 14-year-old student used an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle to kill two teachers and two students on Wednesday at Apalachee High School in northern Georgia.
Here’s what each candidate said after the shooting, and where each stands on guns.
Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee
What he said: “Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday on social media. “These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster.”
Where he stands on guns: Mr. Trump has vowed to rescind gun regulations enacted by the Biden administration, describing them as attacks on gun owners and manufacturers, and he has argued that mass shootings stem from mental health challenges. He has said his administration “did nothing” to restrict guns, though his administration did enact a ban on bump stocks, which make semiautomatic rifles more powerful, after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. The Supreme Court struck down the ban this year.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee
What she said: “We have to end this epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all,” Ms. Harris said at an event in New Hampshire. “You know, it doesn’t have to be this way.”
Where she stands on guns: The vice president has pushed for a federal assault weapons ban. The last one expired in 2004, a decade after it was authorized by President Bill Clinton. The measure blocked the sale of 19 specific weapons that have the features of guns used by the military, including semiautomatic rifles and certain types of shotguns and handguns. Democratic efforts to resurrect it have been met with fierce Republican resistance. Ms. Harris also supports state-level red-flag laws, which allow courts to seize weapons from people they deem threats.
JD Vance, Mr. Trump’s running mate
What he said: “I don’t like this. I don’t like to admit this: I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” Mr. Vance said at an event in Phoenix on Thursday. “But if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security at our schools.”
Where he stands on guns: Mr. Vance, a first-term senator from Ohio, has argued that restrictions on firearm access would be ineffective in stopping school shootings, and has instead called for stronger security measures. He has described himself as a gun owner. And he has supported abolishing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which enforces firearms regulations. In July, the National Rifle Association celebrated when Mr. Trump chose him as his running mate, describing the senator as a fierce defender of the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Tim Walz, Ms. Harris’s running mate
What he said: “I defend the Second Amendment,” Mr. Walz, the governor of Minnesota, said at a rally in Pennsylvania on Thursday. “But our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe.” Earlier in the day, he framed the matter as a fight for freedom: “I say it as a gun owner, I say it as a veteran, I say it as a hunter, none of the things we’re proposing infringes on your Second Amendment right. But what does infringe upon this is our children going to school and being killed.”
Where he stands on guns: Mr. Walz has evolved on gun policy since he was elected in 2006 to represent a conservative-leaning House district in southern Minnesota. Once a strong supporter of gun rights who won high marks from the N.R.A., he later became a champion of bills to ban assault weapons and bump stocks. By the time Ms. Harris selected him as her running mate, his positions on guns largely mirrored hers — and he, like her, had received failing grades from the N.R.A.
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