MINNESOTA Governor Tim Walz has long stood out among his Democratic colleagues over his support of the Second Amendment, but the vice presidential candidate took a sharp left turn in recent years.
An Army veteran and avid hunter, Walz, 60, was once one of the few Democrats in Congress who received support and financial backing from the National Rifle Association.
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As recently as 2016, the top gun rights advocacy group had given him an A rating.
However, as Walz was named Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 presidential election, that rating dropped to F.
While serving in Congress between 2007 and 2019, Walz represented a highly conservative district.
He publicly supported gun rights and touted his endorsements from the NRA.
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“I’m proud to stand with the NRA to protect our Second Amendment rights, and I’m truly grateful for their endorsement,” he said in 2010, according to ABC News.
At the same time, Walz sponsored legislation that expanded access to public lands for hunting, known as the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act.
The governor himself is known as an avid hunter. Images of Walz holding a rifle while decked out in camo have circulated on social media.
While still in Congress in 2016, Walz was even praised by Guns & Ammo magazine, which named him one of its top 20 politicians for gun owners.
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It comes as:
Walz’s stance on gun control started shifting more left in 2017.
That year, the country was rocked by the deadliest mass shooting in US history at a music festival in Las Vegas.
Walz appeared to distance himself from the NRA following the shooting, donating around $18,000 in campaign contributions from the gun rights group to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes charity.
“I think it should be expected that our legislative leaders should follow where the will of the people is,” Walz said at the time, according to CBS News.
“And if you haven’t walked in a coffee shop over the last week and had 15 conversations on how this must end, you’re not getting out, and I’m out, I’m hearing them.”
Walz began publicly vocalizing his support for legislation on universal background checks, conceal and carry, and his opposition to reducing restrictions on gun silencers.
Who is Governor Tim Walz?
Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate after weeks of chaos for the Democratic Party. Here’s what to know about her pick.
Democratic politician Walz became the 41st governor of Minnesota in 2019.
The 60-year-old is a retired teacher and former non-commissioned officer in the Army National Guard.
Walz graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2001 and Chadron State College in 1989.
He has been married to his wife and fellow teacher Gwen Walz since 1994.
The pair share two children named Hope and Gus, who were conceived through IVF and fertility treatments, per the Star Tribune.
Hope graduated from a Montana college, while Gus attends public high school in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Walz was born in West Point, Nebraska, in 1964, and grew up in Valentine.
He is known for being punctual and graduated from Butte High School in Butte, Nebraska, in 1982.
In 1989, he taught English in China and learned to speak Mandarin.
Walz quit drinking alcohol after he got a DWI in Nebraska in 1995.
Troopers pulled him over for going 96 mph in a 55 mph zone, and a breathalyzer test found his blood alcohol concentration was .128, according to court records.
After he was arrested, he struck a plea deal to reduce the charges, which was a topic of conversation when he first ran for Congress in 2006.
When state troopers drive Walz in the state SUV as part of his governorship, he sits in the front passenger seat because he gets carsick in the back seats, per the Star Tribune.
When Walz was 19, his father died of lung cancer.
His mother, Darlene Rose, still lives in Nebraska and sometimes visits her son at the Capitol.
He appeared to distance himself even further following the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018.
In an op-ed published by The Star Tribune, Walz said he supported an assault weapons ban.
“In the tough week since then, I’ve listened hard to students, parents, law enforcement, teachers, sportsmen, and survivors of gun violence in every corner of Minnesota,” he wrote at the time.
“And while they have different perspectives, I’ve heard them all say one thing loud and clear: This. Needs. To. Stop.”
Tim Walz record as Governor of Minnesota
Who is Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Walz?
Tim Walz was born in a small town in rural Nebraska, representing and flipping a deep red district in Southern Minnesota in Congress.
Walz prides himself on knowing rural issues, and the Midwest, signing into law some of the most progressive legislation of any governor in the country with just a one-seat majority.
He is a 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard, a former public school teacher for over 20 years, a union member, a state championship-winning football coach, and his school’s faculty advisor for the Gay-Straight Alliance before becoming a congressman with one of the most bipartisan records in the House of Representatives, and the successful Governor of Minnesota – leading the state to become the sixth-best state in the nation for business.
Some policies that Walz has passed as Governor of Minnesota:
- Universal free school breakfast and lunch for all public school students
- Free tampons and pads in all public school bathrooms and locker rooms
- Legalized marijuana
- Signed legislation aiming to create carbon-free electricity state-wide by 2040
- Tax rebates for the working class up to $1,300 for residents making under $150k per year
- Lowered taxes on small businesses
- Became the first state to implement a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers
- 12 weeks of paid family leave
- 12 weeks of paid sick leave
- Banned conversion therapy in the state
- Implemented red flag laws and universal background checks for gun purchases
- Automatic voter registration for state residents
- Free public college under $80k for all state residents
- Ban on PFAS, known as forever chemicals, in the state’s water supply
- $2.2 billion increase in k-12 public school funding
- Sectoral bargaining for nursing home workers
- Strengthened access to abortion
- Passed the largest infrastructure bill in state history
- Massive investments into affordable housing and public transportation
After being elected governor, Walz signed several gun safety measures into law in 2023.
This included creating red flag laws, extending the waiting period for gun transfers, and expanding background checks for private purchases.
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As his stance on access to guns has swung more left, Walz has insisted that increasing gun control does not infringe on the Second Amendment.
“There’s a vision to reduce gun violence with absolutely no infringement on those who lawfully own guns, to use them for things that many of us cherish,” Walz told reporters in July, according to The New York Times.