Opinion
By Larry Keane

Vice President Kamala Harris seems to need a continuing education course on the U.S. Constitution.

The former prosecutor, district attorney, and California attorney general had a long legal career before her election to the U.S. Senate and as Vice President. She’s undoubtedly taken an oath to protect it many times, yet her lack of understanding, or worse – intentional disregard, of the nation’s founding document, becomes more astounding each day. Her attitude regarding our personal freedoms has come into sharp focus as her past record and statements are increasingly uncovered and spotlighted during the presidential campaign.

The vice president pushed unconstitutional anti-Second Amendment bans on firearms back during her days in California, including signing an amicus brief in opposition to the Heller challenge to Washington, D.C.’s handgun ban – which denied the individual right to keep and bear arms for law-abiding citizens. Fast-forward to her time as a senator and now as vice president and she never missed a chance to voice her support for mandatory gun confiscation schemes. Even President Joe Biden scolded her on that stance during the 2019 Democratic presidential primary.

And finally, just last week in the closing stretch of the presidential campaign, Vice President Harris made her uncompromising stance on freedoms known in an interview with NBC News. The only problem is she whiffed again regarding what inalienable rights are and are not included in the Constitution.

Jackson: “Religious exemptions [to abortion], for example? Is that something you would consider?”
⁰Harris: “I don’t think we should be making concessions when we are talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body.” pic.twitter.com/AVzyKEjBrG

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 22, 2024

Foundational Freedoms

The Bill of Rights clearly enumerates the fundamental freedoms and inalienable rights granted to the people – endowed by their Creator – and that were most revered as sacred. The protections of free speech and freedom of religion and from governmental religious persecution. The right of the people to speedy trials before a jury of their peers. The fundamental freedoms of Due Process and from self-incrimination.

And, of course – the right of the people which protects all other rights; the right to keep and bear arms.

In an interview with NBC News’ Hallie Jackson, Vice President Harris demonstrated again she might have skipped law school the day they covered the Bill of Rights, or any of the Amendments of the Constitution for that matter.

“I don’t think we should be making concessions on fundamental freedoms…,” the vice president stated after being asked about hypothetical legislation in Congress should she win The White House in one week.

The question posited by NBC’s Jackson pertained to abortion rights, but the vice president’s answer spoke volumes about her approach to governing while protecting and preserving the Constitution.

The Supreme Court, in the Dobbs decision, held there is no fundamental Constitutional right to an abortion in the text of the Constitution. The Second Amendment – very clearly – is in the Constitution.

What is also expressly stated in the Second Amendment is the “right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The Supreme Court in Heller and then McDonald has held this is a pre-existing individual right that is a fundamental civil liberty that neither the federal government nor the States can infringe upon.

What’s most concerning to the firearm industry and millions of law-abiding gun owners from coast-to-coast is the vice president’s clear record of abusing her power in elected office to disregard the Constitution and the legitimate fundamental freedoms included within in it in order to overreach and attack those who exercise their Second Amendment rights.

President Biden’s Brushback

One glaring harbinger about Vice President Harris’ disregard for the Constitution happened when she was still U.S. Sen. Harris and running to be president the first time in 2019. From the debate stage, she engaged with Former Vice President Joe Biden about how to institute a new so-called “assault weapons” ban, or ban on commonly-owned Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs). To be clear, the Biden-Harris administration has been the most anti-Second Amendment administration in presidential history. President Biden has attacked the firearm industry at every chance he could, including deeming the industry “the enemy.”

ABC News moderator David Muir asked candidates about their stances on “mandatory” gun buybacks of AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles. Then-Vice President Biden reiterated his support for passing legislation. Then-Sen. Harris had previously announced she would take executive action to institute a ban and mandatory buyback. The two candidates then argued about how they’d accomplish their gun control agenda during the debate.

Muir pointed out, “The Vice President has said there is no Constitutional authority to issue that executive order when they say ‘I’m going to eliminate assault weapons,’ saying ‘You can’t do it by executive order…’”

“Some things you can. Many things you can’t,” Vice President Biden stated.

“Well, I mean I would just say, Hey Joe – instead of saying no we can’t, let’s say yes we can,” Sen. Harris said.

“Let’s be Constitutional. We got a Constitution,” Vice President Biden shot back.

Since 2020, public polls have shown the American people are coming to understand what semiautomatic rifles are and what they are not, mostly because millions have purchased them for a variety of lawful reasons since that time. Americans oppose reinstating a federal ban and Vice President Harris has changed her tune and has walked back her demand for mandatory buybacks now that she is running for the top office. Turns out she might have brushed up on what the president is in fact allowed to do through executive actions under the Constitution while facing checks and balances as the Founding Fathers intended.

Second for a Reason

The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing. They knew the country and the people would change and they granted them the powers and ability to adapt as needed within the framework of the Republic. But they recognized certain principles were inalienable, non-negotiable or uncompromisable, you could say. They included those God-given rights within the Bill of Rights and the right of the people to keep and bear arms was included for good reason.

Vice President Harris has a long and detailed track record of ignoring the Constitution and attacking the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans at every chance she’s had. It’s imperative that gun owners get to the polls and #GUNVOTE^® on or before Nov. 5 to protect and preserve those rights.

About The National Shooting Sports Foundation

NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations, and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org