US election campaign
Vice debate: Walz for stricter gun rules
Walz advocates for stricter gun laws. photo
© Matt Rourke/AP/dpa
The US vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance compete against each other in a TV duel. It is their first and probably last debate before the election on November 5th.
He is a hunter himself and owns weapons, said Walz. But it is necessary to curb gun violence in the USA with stricter rules. After Vance previously said security measures in schools need to be tightened, Walz addressed the audience: “Do you want your school to be secured like a fort?” He referred to Finland as an example, where there are few gun crimes due to high levels of gun ownership. Vance responded that there are more people with mental health problems in the United States than in Finland.
At the same time, Walz said he had “become friends” with the shooters of school attacks. It could very likely have been a slip of the tongue, since he previously spoke about sitting in his office with parents of the children killed in an attack at a Sandy Hook elementary school.
Gun ownership, guaranteed by the Second Amendment, is a controversial issue in the United States. Despite frequent gun attacks in schools and public places, there is also resistance to restrictions on the ownership of assault rifles. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump often claims that his rival Kamala Harris wants to take away guns from all citizens. The Democrats deny this.