National Review's Charles Cooke on How Kamala Harris Shakes Up 2024 Gun Politics
Host Stephen Gutowski and guest Charles Cooke discuss how Kamala Harris taking over the top of the Democratic presidential ticket might change the race's focus on firearms.
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Show Notes
Another week, another wild series of events in the 2024 presidential race. This time, the Democratic ticket was entirely upended, and Kamala Harris all but wrapped up her position at the top.
To discuss how this affects gun politics, we've got National Review's Charles Cooke back on the show for the first time in a while. Cooke said that Harris has been to the left of her predecessor, Joe Biden, on firearms restrictions. He noted she supported a more assertive approach to using executive power, and she backed a mandatory buyback of AR-15s.
However, Cooke argued Harris probably wouldn't track further left on guns during the campaign. He said the incentive is to either stick with the already aggressive platform, centered on an "assault weapons" ban, or try to moderate. He said Harris is likely going to have to combat her image as a very liberal California politician if she wants to beat Donald Trump.
He said he was less concerned about Trump backing away from gun policy in recent weeks. He argued Democrats are highlighting the issue to try and excite voters they're concerned won't show up to the polls whereas Republicans don't have to worry as much about that because they've already accomplished a lot of pro-gun priorities in recent years.
Oh, and we talked a little bit about rollercoasters at the end for those interested lol.
Special Guest: Charles Cooke.