Walz says his son Gus witnessed a shooting, which sparked Vance's sympathy: NPR

Tim Walz celebrates with his son Gus Walz at the Democratic National Convention.

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This story first appeared on the NPR Network Live blog of the 2024 vice presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz. You can find the latest on the campaign here: Go to NPR's election page.

Gov. Tim Walz said at Tuesday night's vice presidential debate that his son Gus witnessed a shooting, a confession that visibly surprised and saddened his opponent, JD Vance, on stage.

“I have a 17-year-old who witnessed a shooting at a community center while he was playing volleyball,” Walz said.

“This is terrible,” Vance muttered, shaking his head.

Video credit: Vice President Debate from CBS News.

Both candidates condemned the epidemic of school shootings — and said they agreed on it — but offered different solutions for addressing the situation. Vance spoke about improving physical security measures while Walz focused on gun control legislation.

When it was Vance's turn to answer, he turned directly to Walz.

“Tim, first of all, I didn't know your 17-year-old was a witness to a shooting, and I'm sorry for that and I hope he's OK,” he said. “Christ have mercy, it’s terrible.”

“I appreciate you saying that,” Walz replied.

Walz told MPR News in March about the incident, which occurred at the Jimmy Lee Community Center in Saint Paul.

“As a parent of a juvenile who was in that facility, I think it would have been a good decision to keep those firearms out of there,” he said.

At other points in the debate, views between the two diverged significantly.

Asked whether prosecutors should charge parents for the mass shootings of their children, Vance quickly turned to the question of how to prevent school shootings in general. He believes the most important way to prevent these shootings is to increase school security.

“Unfortunately, I think we need to increase security in our schools,” Vance said. “We have to make the door stronger. We need to make the windows stronger and of course we need to increase the number of school resource officers.”

Vance essentially proposed a common response to school shootings: Schools needed to get tougher by adding things like metal detectors and more police presence.

However, many experts In my opinion, a more effective approach is to focus more on strengthening students' emotional well-being and ensuring they feel a sense of belonging, as school shooters have often been bullied.

For his part, Walz quickly pivoted to gun control legislation.

“I think in the end we're looking for a scapegoat. Sometimes it’s just the weapons,” he said.

Vance and Walz are both gun owners, but that's where their similarities when it comes to guns broadly end. Vance, who was it received applause from the NRAhas called reforms such as expanding background checks a “gimmick,” and bans on shock stocks that allow a weapon to fire at near machine gun speed, a “Huge distraction.”

Walz has signed gun control laws as governor in Minnesota, including a warning signal law and another bill that increased the penalty for giving guns to people who cannot legally own them.

There is evidence that gun control laws, particularly red flag laws, work. Researcher in the violence prevention research program at the University of California, Davis, found that suicides are responsible for the majority of gun deathsdecrease when warning signals are issued.

Conversely, research shows that laws that loosen gun restrictions, such as B. Laws on the right to bear arms apparently lead to this more violent crime with firearms, more attacks with firearmsmore Workplace Homicide And More police shootings.