Walz reveals his son witnessed a shooting during debate exchange on guns
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Senator JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz, are shown on screen in the media file room during the first vice presidential debate in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz revealed for the first time Tuesday that his teen son witnessed a shooting at a community center while playing volleyball last year.
The big picture: The Democratic VP nominee told the story when asked about the gun violence epidemic during his debate with Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
- "We owe it to [our kids] to get a fix. These are things that shouldn't be that difficult: you can still keep your firearms and we can make a difference," Walz said, citing "red flag" and background check gun laws he signed as governor.
- Walz also acknowledged he reversed his previous opposition to an assault weapons ban.
- Vance expressed sympathy for Walz and his son, saying he hadn't been aware of the "awful" incident.
Flashback: While Gus' presence at the January 2023 shooting hasn't been widely reported, a St. Paul aquatics coach recounted the scene two months ago after the teen went viral during the Democratic National Convention.
- The coach, David Albornoz, wrote on Facebook that Gus "helped keeping everyone safe and calm, looking after the kids in the gym with us as I rushed out" after a teen was shot outside.
Zoom in: The candidates' policies vary dramatically, but they agreed gun violence is at crisis levels and that there is a need to better understand the problem.
- Walz compared the situation in the U.S. to Finland, which has a high gun ownership rate but a low rate of shootings. "If we really want to solve this," Walz said, more research needs to happen. "I think that this is a good start to the conversation."
- Taking a different lesson from the Finland comparison, Vance pointed to "a mental health crisis in this country that I really do think that we need to get to the root cause of...I don't think it's the whole reason why we have such a bad gun violence problem, but I do think it's a big piece of it."
- In response, Walz cautioned not to "scapegoat" mental illness. "Sometimes it just is the guns...and there are things that you can do about it."
The candidates also differed on how to go about protecting against school shootings, with Vance arguing the best way to stop them includes better locks, stronger doors and more school resource officers.
- "The idea that we can magically wave a wand and take guns out of the hands of bad guys, it just doesn't fit with recent experience," the Republican VP nominee said.
- Meanwhile, Walz questioned whether schools should be "hardened to look like a fort."
The bottom line: Walz ended the discussion about a crisis that has still not spurred much substantive action in Congress on an optimistic note: "I think this a healthy conversation. I think there's a capacity to find solutions on this that work. Protect Second Amendment, protect our children. That's our priority."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include David Albornoz's recollection of the shooting.
