Kamala Harris and/or her handlers may have more reason to brag about gun ownership. Harris clearly wants to outrun her rhetoric in 2019, when she called for "mandatory buybacks" of so-called assault weapons -- which amounts to flat-out confiscation. Back then, Harris called for "executive action," including all legally owned long-barrel firearms that liberals consider too scary.
Since then, Harris has tried to emphasize the fact that she herself owns a gun and that she doesn't oppose the 2nd Amendment. Not only does she own a gun, Harris told Oprah Winfrey in her live interview this week, she'd be happy to plug anyone who broke into her home.
Ahem. First off, Harris and her husband currently have Secret Service protection literally everywhere they rest their heads. Plus, the Vice President and Second Gentleman currently reside at the Naval Observatory in Washington DC, a military facility, although the Secret Service still provides security for the residence. If Harris refers to defense inside her residence in California, well, that might be a bit trickier. California does recognize the Castle Doctrine, meaning that the resident has no duty to retreat before resorting to lethal force. There is a presumption in the law that forcible entry creates a reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury. But legal action is not unheard-of in progressive jurisdictions, such as San Francisco, even in those circumstances.
At any rate, all of this Wild West virtue signaling may have another purpose. The Wall Street Journal reports today that the fastest growing segment of gun owners is not MAGA or conservatives, but Democrats and liberals:
American gun culture has long been dominated by conservative, white men. Now, in a marked change, a burgeoning number of liberals are buying firearms, according to surveys and fast-growing gun groups drawing minorities and progressives.“It’s a group of people who five years ago would never have considered buying a gun,” says Jennifer Hubbert, an anthropology professor at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., who has researched liberal gun owners.Historically, it wasn’t unusual for Democrats to own guns, with many more of them living in rural areas. Also, hunting was much more popular. But starting in the early ’90s, gun ownership among Democrats dropped significantly. Increasingly divisive political battles over the role of firearms in American society led the Democratic Party to become an advocate for gun regulation. Republicans became the party of gun rights.Now, today’s Democrats are rediscovering guns.
Double ahem. The majority of gun owners may be white, but that's because the majority of people in America are white. More men may own firearms than women generally, but there has always been a robust tradition of female gun owners, especially in the last several decades. And needless to say, minority households have often had to arm themselves for protection, especially in places where the local law enforcement agencies were unlikely to come to their assistance. That tradition goes back a long way as well.
Otherwise, this is great news, especially for the defense of gun rights. Most of the opposition to firearms comes in two forms: ideological and ignorant. You can't really fix the first, but the latter can get addressed with experience and education. The more that liberals and progressives exercise their right to effective self-defense, the less likely they are to view these tools as Very Scary Items That Must Be Suppressed. They also will come into contact with gun owners of more traditional political viewpoints, and that engagement will change their view of conservative gun owners to something much less stereotypical.
I'd bet that the Democrat Party has already discovered this trend, and are adjusting accordingly. It seems rather doubtful that Harris can explain her attitude shift as genuine, but soon enough, Democrats will have to start producing candidates who can speak credibly about firearms and liberty. That will be a very good development indeed.
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