Harris adviser says quip on shooting intruder was ‘a joke’

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ASPartOfMe
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23 Sep 2024, 11:40 am

The Hill

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Harris campaign adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms said the vice president’s comment to Oprah Winfrey Thursday night that she would shoot someone who broke into her house was a “joke.”

“It was a joke, and she knew that we would still be talking about it today, but I think it‘s important that people know that the vice president respects the right to bear arms, that she supports the Second Amendment, but she wants responsible gun ownership and she wants our communities to be safe,” Bottoms told Jake Tapper on CNN Friday afternoon.

Later in the interview, Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, added the comment “humanizes” Harris in a way that most don’t get to see.

During an interview with Oprah that aired Thursday, Harris said, “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot.”

She proceeded to laugh and added that she probably “should not” have said it, but that her staff would “deal with that later.”

Harris said during her debate with former President Trump last week that she’s a gun owner, which Oprah said was news to her. Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has also talked about owning firearms.

“Here’s my point, Oprah. I’m not trying to take everyone’s guns away. I believe in the Second Amendment,” Harris added. She said the gun control measures she supports are “just common sense.”

Harris also talked about being a gun owner during her first campaign for president.


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old_comedywriter
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23 Sep 2024, 11:57 am

Someone breaking into your house is not a joke.

I have legal nonlethal weapons handy in case of a home invasion crime.


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23 Sep 2024, 4:04 pm

It's unlikely any intruders would get close enough for her to get a chance.


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25 Sep 2024, 10:17 am

Someone breaks into my home will get mauled by four large dogs then shot.


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25 Sep 2024, 10:38 am

I've had someone break into my house while I was there. I was living with my late BF and they were two youngish kids who broke in. My BF chased them and they tried to get out the back door but it was stuck, so we could have held them there until the police came, but we let them go because we didn't want the criminal justice system to ruin their lives.

This idea that people should be killed for breaking into your house is appalling.



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25 Sep 2024, 10:45 am

People broke into my neighbor’s house and attacked her and a friend. They broke in looking for drugs, her lifelong partner had just died of cancer and had pain meds.They came home from her partner’s wake and found the thieves rummaging.A fight ensued with an elderly man being injured and needing medical attention from a head wound.
So , breaking into my house would be a very very bad idea.


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bee33
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25 Sep 2024, 11:00 am

^Getting into a fight with people rummaging in your house seems like a spectacularly bad idea.



Misslizard
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25 Sep 2024, 11:06 am

/\I would say breaking into a house and trying to steal a deceased persons items was the bad idea. Especially after someone has died and the family is grieving and traumatized.
Rural area, would take the cops at least thirty minutes to arrive.


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bee33
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25 Sep 2024, 11:17 am

^So in your view it's better for an elderly man to end up with a severe head wound than it is for the bad guys to, god forbid, get away.



Misslizard
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25 Sep 2024, 11:25 am

/\I know the back story on the bad guys, it’s a small community. Wasn’t their first break in. Both habitual offenders.
The homeowner decided to defend their property, most people here do.Maybe a difference between rural and urban. You can’t depend on the cops to show up when you need them.
Both offenders were later arrested , and of course are back loose.


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bee33
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25 Sep 2024, 12:00 pm

It's not a difference between urban and rural. It's a difference between common sense and a "shoot 'em up, law and order at any cost" mentality, which is much more harmful to society than crime.



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25 Sep 2024, 12:43 pm

/\ Works here, haven’t had a homicide in the county for several years. We have a very low crime rate. Most crimes are meth related, jail roster is full of tweakers.The majority of home owners in a rural area are armed and it does deter people from breaking in.
It would help if they actually rehabilitated criminals instead of just locking them and releasing them right back to reoffend.


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bee33
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25 Sep 2024, 2:45 pm

If you think that an elderly man getting a severe head wound "works" then you have a different definition than I do. And homicides are not lower in places where more people have guns, they are generally higher.



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25 Sep 2024, 3:25 pm

/\ He got the head wound when he walked in on the intruders who clocked him over the head, they were already in the home. He didn’t start it. If criminals hadn’t broken into the home, he wouldn’t have a head wound. Don’t blame the victim, blame the meth head looking for drugs.
You can look up crime stats for my county if you so desire. Newton County , Arkansas. Very rural, no Walmart , hospital or stop lights. And the majority of the population hunts so… guns in most households.


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26 Sep 2024, 7:29 pm

She's surrounded by secret service everywhere she goes. Of course it was a joke.