Did Kamala Harris say that she wants to "take the guns first" and that she likes "taking the guns early"? No, that's not true: It was Donald Trump who said this in a February 28, 2018, meeting with lawmakers at the White House. The Democratic vice presidential nominee is not on record saying it.
The claim appeared in a meme in a post (archived here) shared on Facebook on September 1, 2020. The meme read:
Take the guns first. Go through due process second, I like taking the guns early. --Kamala Harris
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Sep 17 13:28:42 2020 UTC)
Here is video of Trump saying "take the guns first, go through due process second" at a White House meeting on February 28, 2018:
At a CNN Town Hall, when Harris was still a presidential candidate, she said that she would sign an executive order issuing stricter gun control laws if Congress failed to pass sufficient gun control legislation within the first 100 days of her term. The executive order would include mandatory background checks for customers of any firearms dealer who sells upwards of five guns a year, stricter regulation of gun manufacturers that may lead to revoked licenses or prosecution, as well as an attempt to tie the loophole that allows convicted domestic abusers to purchase guns if their victim is an unmarried partner, according to a report from the New York Times. In this same town hall, she also mentioned that licensed gun owners who want to hunt would not be affected by any executive order.
Read more Lead Stories reporting on Sen. Harris's gun control stances here.
