Vice President Kamala Harris’ (D) recent announcement during a cringeworthy 60 Minutes episode that she owns a Glock pistol reeked of hypocrisy. And, not surprisingly, the mainstream media’s reaction to Harris’ Glock proclamation was equally hypocritical.
The hypocrisy was chronicled by the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA), so we won’t dwell on that except to present a brief list of why Harris owning a Glock qualifies her as hypocrite in chief.
- As San Francisco’s district attorney, she supported a total ban on handgun ownership.
- During the U.S. Supreme Court’s consideration of the Heller case, she supported a handgun ban in Washington, D.C.
- During that same case, she endorsed an amicus brief arguing the Second Amendment doesn’t protect an individual right to own firearms.
- As California’s attorney general, she tightened the state’s handgun roster, effectively making most Glock pistols made after 2009 illegal for citizens to own.
- Recently, the Biden-Harris administration allegedly colluded with the City of Chicago and gun-control groups to target Glock in a lawsuit and met with the company personally to demand a change in the design of their handguns—the very handgun Harris claims to own.
Combine those facts with the Biden-Harris administration constantly seeking to ban semi-automatic firearms and so-called “high-capacity” magazines, which most Glocks are either sold with or can use, and the hypocrisy simply cannot be denied.
More telling than the multi-faceted hypocrisy of Harris’ announcement was the reaction of many in the media, who have gone out of their way to prop up the Harris-Walz campaign at every turn.
In a story headlined, “The Many Meanings of Kamala Harris’s Glock,” The New York Times practically gushed over the 60 Minutes announcement.
“Vice President Kamala Harris first revealed to the public that she owned a gun in 2019, during her first presidential campaign,” the story began. “But it was only this week that the Democratic nominee for president revealed the make of that gun, which an aide has said is securely stored in her Los Angeles residence: Glock.
“If Ms. Harris wanted to appeal to a broad swath of American gun owners, she couldn’t have picked a better brand.”
It’s almost as if the Times was admitting her Glock was less a tool for self-defense—as most Glock owners consider them—and more a carefully crafted campaign stratagem.
USA Today also used the announcement as a chance to prop up Harris’s campaign with a story headlined: “Kamala Harris reveals type of gun she owns, gun range experience in '60 Minutes' interview.” While it doesn’t mention anywhere in the story how Harris embraces many anti-gun policies, it does somehow include a section on how former President Donald Trump was prepared to have his gun license revoked following felony convictions—a completely unrelated matter included solely to discredit the Republican candidate.
Reuters also reported what a great thing it is that Harris revealed her Glock ownership in a story headlined, “What we know about Vice President Kamala Harris' gun.” In a section titled “WHY IT’S IMPORTANT,” the story stated: “Harris, along with most of her Democratic Party, has pushed for more gun safety legislation to curb the high rate of gun deaths and injuries in the U.S. Republicans blocking this legislation have argued that Democrats want to seize Americans' guns and overturn the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that gives Americans the right to ‘bear arms.’ Harris is trying to appeal to some voters among the one-third of Americans who own a gun and the two-thirds of Americans who support stronger regulation of gun ownership.”
The Hill also made a big deal about Harris owning a Glock in a story headlined: “Harris reveals owning a Glock: ‘Of course’ I’ve fired it.” The story paints both Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, as regular gun owners who don’t have anything against the Second Amendment and calls Harris’ statement to Oprah Winfrey about shooting home intruders a joke.
“Harris has spoken repeatedly about the need to address gun violence, and she has joined President Biden at the White House for announcements about efforts to reduce the number of gun deaths and tighten restrictions on certain gun sales,” the story stated. “As a candidate, Harris has called for Congress to reinstate a ban on assault weapons. At the same time, she has sought to moderate her image on guns ahead of Election Day. She has spoken multiple times about being a gun owner, joking in an appearance with Oprah Winfrey that anyone breaking into her house would be ‘getting shot.’”
At first glance, NBC News appeared to be somewhat evenhanded in a story headlined, “Why Kamala Harris is facing criticism for owning a Glock.” In that story, author Suzy Khim quotes a pro-gun advocate on Harris’ hypocrisy, but, in the end, lets the president of the Brady Campaign and Harris have the last say and explain how she is “in favor of the Second Amendment” and doesn’t want to “take everyone’s guns away.”
Perhaps the best take on the whole Harris Glock matter came from a sketch on “Saturday Night Live” depicting a “Family Feud” match between the Trump and Harris campaigns. In the category of “Something that you keep in your glove compartment,” the Harris character, after repeatedly explaining her middle class roots, answered, “Oh, a Glock Steve. A big, old Glock.”
Of course, gun-ban organizations were thrilled with Harris’ Glock announcement, since they know that doesn’t change any of her priorities concerning gun control for the rest of us. One such group was Brady, formerly named Handgun Control Inc. before handgun bans became less publicly palatable.
“I think it’s fantastic that she talks about being a gun owner,” said Brady President Kris Brown. “She doesn’t try to hide it from the public.”
In the end, Harris’ hypocrisy, combined with media covering for her, gives lawful American gun owners one less reason to vote for her and Walz on Election Day.
