Kamala Harris' Tweet Calling Assault Guns 'Weapon of War' Sparks Backlash from Marjorie Taylor Greene

Kamala Harris recently tweeted, 'Weapons of war have no place on the streets of a civil society. We need an assault weapons ban. Congress, send it to @JoeBiden's desk.' But the post immediately drew criticism, especially from Republican lawmakers and gun rights advocates. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), in particular, slammed the VP by saying, "'America needs a ban on communist politicians like you. Shame on you for trying to destroy Americans' right to defend ourselves while your policies have caused skyrocketing crime and our country to be invaded by criminals, gangs, and terrorists."

However, she wasn't the only Republican who shot back at Harris. As per the Washington Examiner, Chip Roy (R-TX) also slammed the Vice President, telling her to 'pound sand' and to '#SecureTheBorder.' Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed in the unfortunate 2018 Parkland school shooting, also had a few words for Harris. 'Few people in this world repulse me like Kamala Harris, who will say and do anything to achieve power she is too stupid to understand or wield,' he said.

Gun Owners of America, a gun rights organization (separate from the NRA), also criticized Harris' tweet: 'Right. So that's why we're spending billions of American taxpayer funds to arm civilians in Israel and Ukraine?' The group referred to the military aid provided to those countries during the war by Biden's administration.

The backlash to the VP's tweet comes after President Joe Biden established a new White House office dedicated to gun violence prevention last month. As per Reuters, the Federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention is being spearheaded by Harris in conjunction with gun control advocates Greg Jackson and Rob Wilcox.

Biden has also been ramping up his calls for more gun control recently. During a speech on Saturday at the 2023 Human Rights Campaign National Dinner, the President demanded that Congress again pass the assault weapons ban. "We have to fully implement the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years and then pass again the assault weapons ban,' Biden declared. "Who, in God's name, needs a weapon with 100 rounds in a chamber? The weapon was only meant for one thing: to kill people. We did it before. We can do it again. As long as I'm in office, I'm not going to stop until we get it done again.'

Despite Biden and Harris' calls, any legislation to ban assault weapons still faces an uphill battle in Congress. Republicans took control of the House in the midterms and are unlikely to support such a ban. Previous assault weapons bans were passed in 1994 under President Bill Clinton and expired in 2004 after facing opposition from gun rights groups, as per NPR.

For now, the war of words over gun control between the Biden administration and Republicans continues. Harris' tweet brought the debate to the forefront once again and highlighted just how contentious the issue remains in American politics. Both sides seem entrenched, portending more legislative standstills even as the country grapples with rising gun violence.