Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, was once a champion of Second Amendment rights during his time in the U.S. House, but he quickly abandoned his policy position during his campaign for governor.
Walz represented Minnesota’s 1st district in the House from 2007 to 2018, earning ‘A’ ratings and donations from the National Rifle Association (NRA), according to Forbes. During his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, he began shifting his policy on guns, and when he became governor in 2019, he passed several gun control measures in Minnesota, receiving an ‘F’ rating from the NRA during his campaign as a result, according to The New York Times.
“Walz is a political shapeshifter,” Rob Doar, senior vice president of government affairs at the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, told the DCNF. “When he was representing Minnesota’s first district, he advocated for the Second Amendment because that’s what he had to be to win, and shortly after campaigning for governor, he started distancing himself away from Second Amendment positions.”
In 2010, the NRA endorsed Walz for his defense of gun rights, according to an NRA press release. Walz welcomed the endorsement, drawing on his military service and upbringing to stress his alleged conviction for the Second Amendment.
“I grew up hunting and spent 24 years in the Army National Guard,” Walz said according to the NRA press release. “I know how important Second Amendment rights are to the people of southern Minnesota. I’m proud to stand with the NRA to protect our Second Amendment rights, and I’m truly grateful for their endorsement.”
Walz was a sponsor of the 2014 Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act in the House, which expanded access to federal lands for hunters as well as protecting frequently used ammo types and fishing tackle, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The law also allowed greater use of Pittman-Robertson funds, which are allocated for wildlife preservation under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937, on projects related to hunting and public shooting ranges.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz arrives to speak at a press conference regarding new gun legislation at City Hall on August 1, 2024 in Bloomington, Minnesota. Walz is thought to be on a short list of potential vice presidential running mates for Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
However, Walz’s tune changed on the Second Amendment during his run for governor of Minnesota in 2018, when he had a weaker platform than the comparatively strict policies of Erin Murphy, who had the endorsement of the incumbent Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota, according to Twin Cities. He would eventually commit to stricter gun control policy when facing Murphy in the Democratic primary.
Walz wrote an op-ed in 2018 in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune advocating for an assault weapons ban and other gun control measures in the wake of the Parkland high school shooting in 2018 that killed 17 and injured 17 in Parkland, Florida. He also pledged to give the $18,000 he received from the NRA to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a veterans nonprofit.
“I’ll fight to pass universal background checks, which the Legislature has been unable or unwilling to do for too many years,” Walz said in the op-ed. “I’ll fight for the Gun Violence Protective Order that would let family members or police ask a court to keep someone from possessing firearms if that person poses a significant danger. We’ll fund public research into gun violence. We’ll have an honest discussion about mental health without stigmatizing people. And after listening hard to Minnesotans, I support an assault weapons ban.”
Walz signed a controversial “red flag law” in 2023 that gives the state the right to confiscate weapons of people with a “high risk of injuring themselves or others with a firearm,” according to a governor’s office press release. Pro-Second Amendment groups like the United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) and the NRA argue the laws strip due process rights from firearms owners, with people often not informed of the confiscation order, and criminal charges not being necessary for their guns to be at risk.
“In red flag law cases, the government may, on its own and often without the accused even having knowledge of the proceedings, take steps to determine if that individual should continue to have the right to own those firearms,” the USCCA said in 2023. “Under red flag laws, a person who has not committed a crime may have his or her guns confiscated, seemingly in violation of the constitutional right to due process.”
In May, Walz signed omnibus bill HF 5247, which outlawed ‘binary triggers’ effective January 1, 2025, which allow for a shot to be fired after releasing the trigger as well as pulling it normally, according to the bill. The bill is currently under litigation from UnitedHealthcare, who allege the government passed the bill without proper time for lawmakers to consider the legislation, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
“The problem with Walz is you can’t trust what he says,” Doar said. “He touts that he’s a gun owner and a hunter but will fully sign on and endorse extreme gun control proposals that anti-gun politicians will put forward. I just don’t think he can be trusted to protect Second Amendment rights.”
Walz’s Office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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