Democrat Vice Presidential pick Tim Walz wants the three central gun controls that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have spent years pushing in Washington, DC.
Those controls–an “assault weapons” ban, universal background checks, and red flag laws–have been pushed time and again by Biden and/or Harris at every opportunity, including those in which the gun controls had absolutely nothing to do with the events that led to their mention.
For example, the Detroit Free Press noted that Biden responded to the February 13, 2023, Michigan State shooting by pushing an “assault weapons” ban and universal background checks, among other controls. However, the Michigan State shooter used handguns, not an “assault weapon,” and acquired his handguns “legally,” so no additional point-of-sale background check would have hindered him.
Most recently, Harris, in her first campaign stop after Biden announced he would not seek reelection, told a Milwaukee audience, “We’ll finally pass red flag laws, universal background checks, and an ‘assault weapons’ ban.”
Walz is in lockstep with Biden and Harris on these three controls.
On February 21, 2018, the Star Tribune reported that then-sitting U.S. representative and leading DFL gubernatorial candidate Walz pushed an “assault weapons” ban.
And during his second term as Gov. of Minnesota, KARE11 noted Walz used part of his 2023 State of the State message to go after firearms that he labeled “weapons of war,” saying, “…I’m not just a veteran, or a hunter, or a gun owner. I’m a dad. And for many years, I was a teacher. I know that there’s no place for weapons of war in our schools, or in our churches, or in our banks, or anywhere else people are just trying to live their lives without fear.”
Walz has also signed gun controls as governor which both Biden and Harris have sought to secure at the federal level.
On May 19, 2023, Walz’s office put out a press release noting that he had signed universal background check and red flag legislation into law.
Universal background check legislation, by its very nature, outlaws private gun sales. And in California, universal background checks were eventually coupled with a state-level gun registration requirement, as such checks must be coupled with firearm registration in order to be effectual.
Red flag laws allow the guns of citizens to be confiscated for a period of time, giving rise to due process concerns.
AWR Hawkins: Universal Background Checks = Gun Registry
ahawkinsAWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
