Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes: Vice President reveals she owns Glock pistol

US Vice President Kamala Harris has opened up about the type of gun she owns during a prime-time TV appearance, revealing she has fired shots at shooting ranges.

Kamala Harris has revealed she owns a Glock pistol that she has fired at shooting ranges.

In her latest effort to appeal to conservative voters ahead of November’s election, the Vice President spoke about her gun during a prime-time appearance on 60 Minutes, a pre-election tradition that Donald Trump abandoned by backing out of the interview.

Last month, the Democratic candidate controversially told talk show legend Oprah Winfrey: “If someone breaks in my house, they’re getting shot.”

Asked about that comment, she said she had owned a Glock “for quite some time”.

Kamala Harris during her 60 Minutes interview. Picture: Supplied

When questioned over whether she had used it, the Democratic nominee laughed and added: “Of course I have. Yes, at a shooting range – of course I have.”

“My background is in law enforcement, so there you go,” Ms Harris added, referring to her background as a prosecutor in California.

The handgun is designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H and entered the Austrian military and police service by 1982 after becoming the top performer in reliability and safety tests. In the US, police almost exclusively carry Glock handguns and they can be easily converted into fully automatic weapons using a small device.

Her running mate Tim Walz also appeared on 60 Minutes and admitted that Ms Harris had told him to “be a little more careful on how you say things”, amid widespread criticism for exaggerating his military record and misstating details about his travels to China.

“I will own up to being a knucklehead at times,” the Minnesota Governor said.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has opened up about her gun ownership. Picture: AFP

But he argued that voters “know the difference between someone expressing emotion, telling a story, getting a date wrong, rather than a pathological liar like Donald Trump”.

Ms Harris was also grilled over the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza and resist an incursion in Lebanon.

Asked if he was a close ally, she sidestepped and said that “the better question is do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people”.

“And the answer to that question is yes,” Ms Harris said.

Kamala Harris with her running mate, Governor Tim Walz. Picture: AFP

She also hedged on whether she would welcome Ukraine as a member of NATO, despite President Joe Biden and America’s treaty partners affirming Ukraine was on an “irreversible path” to joining the alliance.

Ms Harris’s interview is part of a long-awaited media blitz this week, which also includes appearances on comedian Stephen Colbert’s late-night TV program, radio shock Howard Stern’s show, morning TV program The View, and popular podcast Call Her Daddy.

Mr Trump had agreed to participate in the 60 Minutes episode, with his spokesman Steven Cheung telling the program in a text message: “The president said yes.”

When the former president backed out, Mr Cheung claimed “nothing was ever scheduled or locked in” and that “they also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented”.

Ms Harris told viewers to watch one of Mr Trump’s rallies instead, saying they would “hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances”.

Originally published as Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes: Vice President reveals she owns Glock pistol