Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has come under intense scrutiny for her previous endorsement of using gun owner databases to facilitate police-led firearm confiscations. This stance, expressed during a 2019 Democratic primary forum, has alarmed many who view it as a direct threat to Second Amendment rights.
Following tragic mass shootings in California and Texas, Harris announced her intention to take executive action on gun control. Her proposed measures included comprehensive background checks, stricter regulations on gun dealers, and banning the import of assault weapons. Drawing on her tenure as California’s attorney general, she described how she authorized police to “knock on the doors of people” on a state list of prohibited gun owners to confiscate their firearms.
“We sent law enforcement out to take those guns because we have to deal with this on all levels,” Harris said, a statement that has drawn sharp criticism from gun rights advocates and constitutional scholars.
In March, Harris launched the National Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Resource Center, aimed at supporting state red flag laws. These laws enable the temporary confiscation of firearms from individuals deemed a danger through a civil judicial process.
The ERPO initiative has faced significant opposition from nearly 20 GOP state attorneys general, who argue that it infringes on Second Amendment rights without due process. They voiced their concerns in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, stating, “The solution to gun violence is not more bureaucracy, and it is certainly not parting otherwise law-abiding men and women from their right to self-defense.”
Despite this, gun control advocates like John Feinblatt of Everytown have praised Harris’s initiatives. Feinblatt highlighted her work in the White House’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention, where she focused on eliminating gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability, banning assault weapons, and expanding background checks.
However, Harris’s campaign appears to be shifting its stance. Unnamed advisers have suggested that she no longer supports a mandatory buyback of civilian-owned assault weapons, indicating a departure from her 2020 campaign policies.
