By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a warning to any potential home intruder: "If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot."
The Democratic presidential candidate and gun owner made the seemingly unguarded comment in an interview with Oprah Winfrey before a live studio audience when the conversation turned to gun laws.
"I probably should not have said that. But my staff will deal with that later," Harris said, laughing.
Harris, who has robust protection from the U.S. Secret Service, made the statement amid heightened concern about political violence after a second potential assassination attempt against her opponent in the Nov. 5 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump.
Trump favors few restrictions on arms and ammunition while Harris supports a ban on assault weapons, stricter background checks for gun buyers, and "red flag" laws that can temporarily take guns away from those deemed dangerous.
Harris told Winfrey she supported the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects the right to gun ownership.
Harris mentioned her gun ownership in 2019 when she was a U.S. senator and again in last week's debate with Trump in what seemed like an appeal to more conservative voters.
Harris owns a handgun for personal safety reasons, and it is stowed away in a secure location at her California home, a White House source told Reuters earlier. The source declined to identify the make of gun, but said it is the same gun Harris mentioned in 2019 on the campaign trail.
Harris, the former district attorney of San Francisco and California attorney general, told reporters in 2019: "I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do - for personal safety. I was a career prosecutor."
One-third of Americans own a gun and about two-thirds of Americans support stricter gun laws overall, with nearly 90% supporting policies that would prevent mentally ill people from getting guns, Pew Research shows.