Kamala Harris’ brutal assessment of self-defense laws before she laughed about shooting intruders in Oprah interview
Vice President Kamala Harris laughed Thursday when she said she shot a would-be intruder in her home, despite her past opposition to several laws banning self-defense with guns, calling them racist.
Harris spoke about gun ownership during a political forum with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday night and confirmed that she owned a gun.
“If someone breaks into my house, they’ll get shot, sorry,” Harris said, laughing
“Yeah, yeah. I hear that, I hear that,” Winfrey replied.
“I probably shouldn’t have said that,” Harris added, as some in the audience laughed nervously. “But my staff will work on that later.”
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about gun control and self-defense with Oprah Winfrey during Oprah’s Unite for America Live Streaming event
Harris made the comment in defense of the right of gun owners to defend themselves and their property, despite the fact that he has previously condemned gun self-defense laws as racist.
In 2020, Harris condemned the “stand your ground” self-defense laws during an interview with the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.
She argued that these laws “have been used as an excuse, or even a cover, for people who are motivated by racism and racial profiling.”
“It has been used as an excuse to kill black and colored people,” she added.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (left) joins US television producer Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey, joined by Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris, listens to an audience member
In 28 states, self-defense laws exist, allowing a person to defend themselves and their property with deadly force without first having to retreat from an attacker. according to to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some states have specifically added the words “stand your ground” to their laws to make it clearer.
However, Harris described such laws as dangerous to minority communities because gun owners used them as “a shield for their misconduct and, frankly, their racism.”
Even while she was vice president, Harris indicated in an interview with Telemundo that she was willing to end the “stand your ground” laws.
When the newscaster told of a man who had been shot after knocking on the wrong door, Harris lamented that such laws were wrong and should be changed.
“I think we should,” she said. “We need to have reasonable gun safety laws in this country. Babies are dying. Babies.”
She called state and local lawmakers who defended self-defense laws cowardly.
“Stand up. You want to talk about standing? Stand up for principles, stand up for the safety of our children. Stand up for what’s fair,” she said.
A spokesperson for Harris did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.
Harris has long supported stricter gun control laws, including a government-sponsored mandatory buyback program for assault rifles.
Since taking over the 2024 presidential nomination from President Joe Biden, Harris has told voters she will not take away their guns.
“I don’t want to take away everybody’s guns,” Harris said during the forum.