Democrat Tim Walz during his vice presidential debate with Republican JD Vance on Tuesday defended his shift on assault rifles bans.
“You previously opposed an assault weapons ban, but only later in your political career did you change your position. Why?” CBS News anchor and debate moderator Norah O'Donnell asked Walz during the debate in New York City.
“Yeah, I sat in that office with those Sandy Hook parents. I've become friends with school shooters. I've seen it. Look, the NRA — I was an NRA guy for a long time. They used to teach gun safety,” the Minnesota governor said. “I'm of an age where my shotgun was in my car so I could pheasant hunt after football practice. That's not where we live today.”
Walz, a hunter who represented a conservative district in Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019, was once a pro-gun elected official who the NRA praised. But Walz shifted his stances on gun control following the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, backing universal background backs and opposing concealed carry. After the 2018 Parkland mass shooting, Walz went further and supported an assault rifles ban.
