Kamala Harris once sponsored measure to take away residents handguns in San Francisco

Vice President Kamala Harris has made a point of describing herself as a gun owner during her past two runs for the White House.But nearly two decades ago, the then-San Francisco district attorney backed a firearm confiscation measure that even made some prominent gun control advocates skittish.Harris was listed as a sponsor of Proposition H, which would have barred San Francisco residents from possessing, distributing or manufacturing handguns, the San Jose Mercury News reported at the time.“San Francisco was a leader in proposing gun restrictions at the local level, and [Harris] never met a gun control law she didn’t like,” California attorney Chuck Michel, who represented the National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups in challenging the measure, told The Reload, which first reported this week on Harris’ support for Proposition H.Harris, 59, does not appear to have spoken out extensively about the measure — which was approved by San Francisco voters on Election Day 2005, but struck down by state courts before it could take effect.Residents would have had four months to surrender their weapons if the measure was enacted, with exemptions for certain professions like law enforcement.Several prominent Democrats, including then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and then-Sen.Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), another former San Francisco mayor, had distanced themselves from the ballot measure.In 2008, San Francisco was compelled to pay a $380,000 settlement to the NRA, the Second Amendment Foundation, the California Rifle and Pistol Association, and other plaintiffs who had challenged Proposition H in court.

Feinstein’s apparent misgivings about Prop H are notable given her gun control advocacy.She had become mayor in 1978 after the assassination of her predecessor, George Moscone, and later authored the 1994 federal ban on assault weapons.During both her 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns, Harris said that she is a gun owner and possesses a fir...