Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance called for more security while saying that he didn’t like that school shootings are a “fact of life” during a Thursday rally.
Vance’s comments come one day after a 14-year-old suspect opened fire at a Georgia high school in a rampage that left two teachers and two students dead.
“If these psychos are going to go after our kids, we’ve got to be prepared for it,” Vance said, according to The Associated Press. “We don’t have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in.”
The senator from Ohio continued, saying he didn’t “like” that such shootings are “a fact of life” but said American schools are “soft targets.”
“We’ve got to bolster security, so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children, they’re not able,” Vance said.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign quickly jumped on Vance’s comments, with her campaign posting a video of Vance’s rally on X.
A representative for Vance did not specifically respond to a question about his comments that school shootings are a part of America’s “reality.”
“Kamala Harris has called for all police officers to be removed from schools, putting children all over America at risk,” Vance’s spokesperson said about the Democratic presidential nominee’s past statements.
Following the shooting, Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, called to “end this epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all.”
The comments from Vance and Harris highlight a sharp divide in policy when it comes to school shootings, with Democrats calling to address gun violence and Republicans focusing on school security.
The 14-year-old suspect was a student at Apalachee High School. Law enforcement identified the gun used as an AR platform-style weapon. On Thursday, his father said he had given the gun to his son for the holidays. Both the 14-year-old and his father face charges related to the shooting.
