Twice during this week's presidential debate, former President Donald Trump falsely said that Vice President Kamala Harris wants to take away everyone's guns.
"She wants to confiscate your guns," Trump said, and later: "She has a plan to confiscate everybody's gun."
In a post on X two days later, the Republican Party shared a clip of an old interview with Harris and claimed it was evidence that she supports "mandatory gun confiscation from law-abiding gun owners."
Kamala supports mandatory gun confiscation from law-abiding gun owners pic.twitter.com/S4MdX5i0sD
— GOP (@GOP) September 12, 2024
"I support buybacks," Harris says in the clip.
"How mandatory is your gun buyback program?" the interviewer asks.
"It's mandatory," Harris responds.
During the 2019 Democratic primary, Harris repeatedly said she supported mandatory buyback programs, but for guns commonly called assault weapons.
Her position has shifted on that.
Harris campaign officials recently told the New York Times that she still supports a ban on so-called assault weapons, "but not a requirement to sell them to the federal government."
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During the debate, Harris pushed back on Trump's claims.
"We're not taking anybody's guns away, so stop with the continuous lying about this stuff," Harris said.
She has long supported tighter gun control measures, including red flag laws that allow judges to temporarily take guns and ammunition away from people proven to be threats to themselves or others.
She also wants more background checks for buyers.
None of her plans include seizing firearms except in cases in which they're considered an extreme risk to safety.
"It is a false choice to say you're either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone's guns away," Harris said during a New Hampshire rally earlier this month. "I'm in favor of the Second Amendment, and I know we need reasonable gun safety laws in our country."
Harris spoke in the debate about being a gun owner herself, something she mentioned during the 2020 campaign as well.
A review of the facts shows Trump's assertion that Harris wants to "confiscate everybody's gun" is totally false.
While Harris previously said she supported a mandatory buyback program for certain firearms, and has a plan for stricter gun control measures, she has never called for the widespread confiscation of guns.
As for President Trump, he says U.S. gun laws are too strict.
He is vowing to roll back firearm restrictions if voters send him back to the White House.
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