Harris says anyone breaking into her home is ‘getting shot’

Harris’s gun ownership has been a matter of public record since 2019, when she said: “I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do – for personal safety. I was a career prosecutor.”

But her ownership came to the attention of many in the US – including Winfrey, by her admission – during last week’s presidential head-to-head with Republican rival Donald Trump. It marked the first time the issue had come up in a 2024 debate.

Harris denied a Trump claim that she would “confiscate everybody’s gun” if elected to the White House, pointing out that both she and her running-mate Tim Walz, a hunting enthusiast, had firearms of their own.

Trump, too, has also owned three guns, though he had to surrender two of them and face restrictions on the third after facing criminal charges in New York.

Harris’s opponents have increasingly seized on the gun issue as indicative of her shifting policy positions as her November showdown with Trump approaches.

Last week’s ABC News debate moderator noted that Harris no longer supported a “buyback” programme that would force gun owners to hand over their AR-15s and other assault-style weapons to the government.

But Harris reiterated to Winfrey on Thursday that she wanted tighter laws.

The Democrat also outlined her stance at a recent rally in North Carolina, saying: “We who believe in the freedom to live safe from gun violence will finally pass an assault weapons ban, universal background checks and red-flag laws.”

So-called red-flag laws allow people to apply to a judge to confiscate another person’s gun if they are deemed to be a risk to themselves or others.