Kamala Harris revealed she has a gun during the debate. Here’s what she owns

• Many debate viewers did not know that Harris was a gun owner

Vice President Kamala Harris surprised many Americans when she announced during the Tuesday’s debate that she owned a firearm because of her history of pressing for more gun control.

‘Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking anybody’s guns away. So stop with the continuous lying about this stuff,’ she said during the debate with Donald Trump.

But Harris actually revealed her gun ownership on the campaign trail in Iowa, during her failed 2020 presidential campaign.

‘I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do – for personal safety,’ Harris told voters in April 2019, reminding them she was once a city prosecutor.

Campaign aides at the time confirmed that Harris owned a handgun and that she kept it locked up. She has not revealed the make or model but says she’s a good shot.

Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris at the ABC News presidential debate

The Harris campaign did not return a DailyMail.com request for comment.

Harris spoke about shooting guns in a 2015 interview with journalist Mike Allen who asked her if she had ever shot a gun.

In response, Harris laughed and refused to say when was the last time she had used a gun.

‘I’m a good marksman,’ she added, laughing. ‘Yes, I have shot a gun many, many times.’

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris steps out of her vehicle as she prepares to board Air Force Two

Then Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif at a July 2019 event

During the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Harris proposed a series of gun control policies, even backing a controversial government-run mandatory gun buyback program.

She detailed her position in an MSNBC forum on gun safety in October 2019.

‘We have to have a buyback program, and I support a mandatory gun buyback program,’ she said.

Harris warned there were already estimates of up to 10 million assault weapons in the United States.

‘We’re going to have to have smart public policy that’s about taking those off the streets, but doing it the right way,’ she said.

During her presidential campaign, Harris promised to impose new gun control policies by using executive action if Congress failed to act within 100 days.

‘As president, I’ll take executive action to ban imports of AR-15-style assault weapons,’ Harris said in August 2019.

Harris’ repeated calls for executive actions on gun irked then-Vice President Joe Biden at the time, who criticized her for suggesting she could enact major gun reforms without Congress.

Then Former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris  during a 2019 presidential primary debate

Then-Sen. Kamala Harris argued for executive action on gun control  during her failed 2020 presidential campaign

‘There’s no Constitutional authority to issue that executive order when they say ‘I’m going to eliminate assault weapons,’ he said to reporters. ‘You can’t do it by executive order any more than Trump can do things when he says he can do it by executive order.’

When Harris was asked during a Democratic primary debate to respond to Biden’s criticism, Harris was dismissive.

‘Hey, Joe, instead of saying, ‘No, we can’t,’ let’s say, ‘Yes, we can,’ she said.

‘Let’s be constitutional. We’ve got a Constitution,’ Biden replied.