Where Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on gun control laws

Of the plethora of issues that form part of the political discourse in the United States, gun control is among the most contentious and polarising. Unsurprisingly, gun control is one of the issues that are in focus in the run-up to the 2024 US presidential elections.

Former President Donald Trump and incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris will be going head-to-head on November 5 to compete for the keys to the White House, and where they stand on the issue of owning guns in America might have a say in the race.

The issue has especially been in the limelight since the assassination attempt on the former president during an election rally on July 13. Though the bullet hit Trump, it only managed to strike his ear, missing his skull by mere inches.

The attempted assassination -- by a 20-year-old man wielding an AR-15 assault rifle -- did, however, reignite the never-ending debate on gun control in the country.

The recent mass shooting in Georgia that claimed four lives was another grim reminder of the loopholes in the American system when it comes to owning guns.

WHERE KAMALA HARRIS STANDS

The Vice President has been a supporter of fortifying current laws related to owning guns, especially improving background checks and banning the sale of assault weapons. Harris is also the head of the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, spearheading the Biden administration's efforts to improve gun safety. The efforts paved the way for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a federal legislation passed in 2022 which included record funding for school-based mental health services.

Harris has previously sponsored and supported other bills looking to regulate 3-D printed guns, large-capacity magazines and ghost guns.

During the presidential debate on Wednesday, however, she admitted that she too was a gun owner like many in the country. Her confession came in response to Trump’s comment that Harris, if elected president, was planning on taking everyone’s guns away.

“This business about taking everyone’s guns away,” she said to Trump. “Tim Walz and I are both gun owners, we are not taking anybody’s guns away.”

Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, wrote on X following the debate: “Kamala Harris and I are both gun owners. We’re not going to take away your Second Amendment rights – we’re going to prevent your kids from getting shot at school.”

WHERE DONALD TRUMP STANDS

The former president has been very clear about where he stands when it comes to gun control. He has already declared that he will repeal all gun regulations that the Biden administration has put in place if he is elected president.

The Rifle Association officially endorsed Trump earlier this year in May in Texas where the former president addressed a rabid crowd.

He let the crowd know that if President Biden, who at the time was still in the race, got re-elected, and “gets four more years they are coming for your guns, 100% certain. Crooked Joe has a 40-yearrecord of trying to rip firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.”

Trump was also criticised earlier this year for his remarks after a school shooting in the state of Iowa which claimed three lives. The former president visited the state and told people that “we have to get over it. We have to move forward.”

Despite the assassination attempt on him, Trump seems unfazed in his stance, which is to vehemently defend the US's Second Amendment rights.