Democrats Shoot Themselves in the Foot on Guns… Again.

It comes off like common sense that Americans should be able to protect themselves in their homes from invaders. Why else own a gun for protection at all?

If it’s a day ending in Y, it’s another day Democrats are messing up on guns. 

Vice President Kamala Harris almost had a great moment when it came to firearms before it all blew up in her face. During a live streamed rally last Thursday, Harris claimed “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot.”

While it’s not entirely clear whether this was an off-the-cuff comment since a recently released clip shows a teleprompter with Harris’ script in it, the Harris camp did feel the need to walk it back. Keisha Lance Bottoms, Senior Advisor for Harris campaign, claimed the statements were a joke during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. 

“It was a joke, and she knew that we would still be talking about it today, but I think it‘s important that people know that the vice president respects the right to bear arms,” Bottoms said. “That she supports the Second Amendment, but she wants responsible gun ownership and she wants our communities to be safe.”

It’s a shame they felt they needed to do damage control on the “joke” because it’s probably one of the best things the party has said on guns in a long time. While Americans don’t agree on the solutions to gun violence, they do seem to agree there’s a need to protect the right to self-defense. 

A 2023 Marist poll found that “more than 80 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Independents said they agreed with the laws, while only 40 percent of Democrats said the same.” Those are pretty decent numbers when it comes to firearms, where finding agreement feels harder than most other topics short of abortion.

But regardless of what 60% of Democrats think, the idea that an American should not be able to defend himself is utter insanity. If the right to self-defense doesn’t apply, the 2nd Amendment might as well be dead. 

And just might be in Tim Walz’s Minnesota. 

Last month, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that individuals have a duty to retreat if they have the opportunity to escape, even if they are being threatened with almost certain injury. The case comes after one Earley Blevins was convicted of felony second-degree assault-fear with a dangerous weapon when he pulled a machete out after another man threatened him with a knife. 

One of the dissenting justices wrote that ruling was "unprecedented in the United States" and "flies in the face of human nature."

And, as the justice also noted, it puts vulnerable Minnesotans in harm's way. 

Consider a perfectly obvious scenario. A woman is walking down the street at night when she is approached by a man who clearly intends to harm her. He could be a mugger, a murderer, or a rapist. She doesn’t know. But she can’t defend herself and must try to run. If he catches her? Too bad.

There are serious consequences when the right to bear arms, and by extension, the right to self-defense are infringed upon. Harris has tried to pivot to a more moderate position on guns by claiming she owns a firearm herself and picking hunter dad Walz as her running mate. But there’s a few clear problems there. 

Harris has flip-flopped on her political positions without explaining why they changed. Her claiming to be a gun owner after having advocated for forced government buybacks reads like an obvious attempt to distance herself from a wildly unpopular policy that could tank her chances in Pennsylvania. Walz advocating for gun bans, especially given his state just instituted Duty to Retreat will make this worse. 

And secondly, Democrats have a godawful track record when it comes to guns. From Beto’s infamous “Take the ARs” screed to Bloomberg literally funneling mountains of money into anti-gun causes, people do not trust Democrats to protect their gun rights. Combine that with a growing perception that crime is on the rise and, oops, this is not a good look for Team Blue.

That’s why this was such an unforced error for Harris to back off these comments. It comes off like common sense that Americans should be able to protect themselves in their homes from invaders. Why else own a gun for protection at all?

Harris might regret her words, but she’ll regret the impact her walk back is gonna have a lot more. She better have some more pro-gun policies loaded in the chamber.