Kamala Harris: Cops should conduct home inspections on gun owners
We've already reported on Kamala Harris' past support for draconian gun control, including outrageous policies such as mandatory buybacks of modern sporting rifles and red flag gun seizures.
But even we were shocked when this video surfaced showing Harris suggesting that merely owning a gun is justification for authorities to enter your home for inspections.
Here are her exact words: "Just because you legally possess a gun in the sanctity of your locked home doesn't mean that we're not going to walk into that home and check to see if you're being responsible and safe in the way you conduct your affairs."
A fair-minded person might suggest this quote is being taken out of context because it's outlandish to suggest that in America, authorities could just walk into a private residence to perform an inspection.
However, according to Laura Powell, a California attorney who looked into the origin of this quote, Harris made her statement in May 2007 near the end of a press conference about a proposed San Francisco ordinance that would require gun owners to lock up their guns.
At the time, Harris was district attorney, and Gavin Newsom, who is also answering reporters' questions, was mayor. According to Powell, the ordinance was passed two months later and did not authorize anyone to enter homes for inspections. And in response to a reporter's question, Newsom said, "We're not going to knock on everyone's door. We're not going to break in and inspect, if that's the question."
And yet, Harris summarizes the law in front of cameras, saying, "So, this is about just basically saying that we are going to require responsible behavior by everyone in the community. Just because you legally possess a gun in the sanctity of your locked home doesn’t mean that we’re not going to walk into that home and check to see if you’re being responsible and safe in the way that you conduct your affairs."
The statement is not taken out of context. It's not a matter of misspeaking or using a poorly chosen word or phrase. She could have summarized the law with her first sentence.
However, she specifically goes on to comment about citizens who legally own guns and have them in their homes. She refers to the "sanctity" of their homes and how those homes could be "locked." Then she says that despite this, "we" could still walk into a home to "see if you're being responsible" and see how "you conduct your affairs."
The "we" can only refer to authorities since she was the district attorney and her job was to prosecute people on behalf of San Francisco law enforcement.
What possible explanation can there be for this outrageous statement? She must have known this would violate the Fourth Amendment, one of the most basic concepts in American law, and something every attorney, and especially every district attorney, should know.
Is she saying cops would get warrants to do gun storage inspections? Is her statement an empty threat to coerce people to comply with the storage law? Does she simply not care about constitutional rights?
According to Powell, "Harris did not correct herself, and no reporters asked about it. Neither Newsom nor any of the other speakers, which included an attorney with the city, commented on her statement."
When you consider that the very next year, she authored an amicus brief for the U.S. Supreme Court in the Heller case, suggesting citizens have no individual right to own firearms, and has openly and repeatedly called for seizure of firearms through mandatory buybacks and red flag laws, it is reasonable to conclude that Harris is prepared to gut the Second Amendment by any means.
Dean Rieck is Executive Director of Buckeye Firearms Association, a former competitive shooter, NRA Patron Member, former #1 NRA Recruiter, and host of the Keep and Bear Radio podcast.
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