Does a video show a Kamala Harris staffer saying the vice president "doesn't" own a firearm? No, that's not true: A video posted to social media is sped up and has an incorrect subtitle. The original video played at normal speed shows the staffer said Harris "does own a firearm" although she stutters a bit on the word "own" and appears to say it twice. The CNN transcript of the interview also shows the staffer said Harris "does" own a firearm.
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, on September 21, 2024. It said:
A Kamala staffer just went on CNN and said Kamala doesn't own a firearm.
Kamala repeatedly lied about owning a gun.
Make no mistake. Kamala will come for your guns. She lied about having one so you would believe her when she lied about not taking them away.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Sept 30 17:46:52 2024 UTC)
The post on X is a split screen with a 21-second video on the left that shows CNN anchor Jim Acosta speaking to Adrienne Elrod, senior spokesperson for the Harris/Walz campaign, and a 35-second compilation of clips of Harris saying she was a gun owner.
In the video of Elrod speaking to Acosta, the timing is sped up, making it sound as though Elrod said Harris "doesn't" own a firearm. Here is a screenshot of the word "doesn't" highlighted in the subtitles on the X post that is the focus of this fact check:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Sept 30 17:50:12 2024 UTC)
In an archived video from Elrod's September 20, 2024, appearance on CNN, she states, Harris "does own a firearm." The time at which she makes that statement is at 35 seconds into the one-minute archived clip.
Also, according to the CNN transcript (archived here) of the interview, Elrod says Harris "does" own a firearm:
ACOSTA: I do want to ask you about one other moment in the Oprah Winfrey event last night. Oprah asked Kamala Harris about the fact that she owns a firearm and she talked about this and she said at one point, well, if somebody tries to break into my home, they're going to get shot. She made that comment and then she said, well, my staff will go ahead and clean that up. You are on Kamala Harris' staff. Can you give us some more information? I'm just curious from a biographical background what do we know about this firearm that she owns and when did she get it.
ELROD: Yes, well look she has made it very clear that she staunchly supports the second amendment. She supports strong Responsible gun ownership and she does own a firearm So, you know, I don't know I can't really comment more than that except for the fact that she is somebody who does believe that if you are a responsible gun owner in this country and you want to have a gun in your home to protect your families, and if you want to have a, you know, gun to go hunting with, you are certainly able to. She just wants to make sure that we have restrictions in place to keep guns, you know, out of the hands of people who want to harm us or people with mental health issues.
In a September 19, 2024, interview, Harris told Oprah Winfrey she is a gun owner, as the video posted on Harris' YouTube channel (archived here) shows beginning at 1:15:03:
Harris also spoke about owning a gun in 2019, as CNN reported at the time (archived here).
Other Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Kamala Harris can be found here.
