Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance called for more security while saying he doesn’t like that school shootings are a “fact of life” at a rally Thursday.
Vance’s comments come a day after a 14-year-old suspect opened fire at a Georgia high school, killing two teachers and two students.
“If these psychopaths want to come after our children, we have to be prepared,” Vance said, according to the Associated Press. “We don’t have to like the reality we live in, but it is the reality we live in.”
The Ohio senator went on to say that he didn’t like that such shootings were a reality, but that American schools were easy targets.
“We need to tighten security so if a psychopath wants to come in the front door and kill a bunch of kids, they’re not going to be able to do it,” Vance said.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign quickly responded to Vance’s comments, 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 part of American “reality.”
“Kamala Harris has called for all police officers to be removed from schools, putting children across America at risk,” Vance’s spokesperson said of the Democratic presidential nominee’s past statements.
After the shooting, Democratic presidential nominee Harris called for “an end to this epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all.”
Vance and Harris’ comments highlight a sharp divide in politics on school shootings, with Democrats calling for tackling gun violence and Republicans focusing on school safety.
The suspect, 14, was a student at Apalachee High School. Law enforcement identified the gun used as an AR-style handgun. His father said Thursday he gave the gun to his son for vacation. The 14-year-old and his father are both charged in connection with the shooting.
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