“I support sensible gun safety laws,” says gun owner Kamala Harris

US Vice President Kamala Harris made a significant revelation on Friday in her first solo interview since being nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate: She stated that she owns a gun.

During her solo interview with a local news station in Philadelphia, in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, Harris appealed to moderate voters by stressing that she will not “take away anyone's guns.”

Although she discussed other policies in the interview, she said she is a gun owner who wants to protect Americans' gun rights while maintaining “common sense” gun safety laws. AFP reported.

“We are not taking away anyone's guns. I support the Second Amendment (to the U.S. Constitution) and I support common sense gun safety laws,” Harris said. ABC Partner companies WPVI.

Analysts believe her recent interview could be the turning point in her race for the White House against Republican Donald Trump.

Gun rights have been a contentious issue in US politics for decades. Trump angered his supporters during the election campaign by saying that Harris wanted to “confiscate your guns”.

In the interview, Harris mentioned her experiences as a prosecutor and how this brought her very close to victims of gun violence.

“I have personally followed murder cases,” she said. “I have personally followed autopsies. I have personally seen what assault weapons do to the human body.”

“And that's why I firmly believe that it's consistent with the Second Amendment and your right to bear arms to also say we need a ban on assault weapons. They are literally tools of war.”

Polls show that most Republicans oppose a ban on semi-automatic rifles, which some call assault weapons, including the popular AR-15-style rifles used in many mass shootings.

But Harris said she also supports more popular measures, including universal background checks for gun buyers. “The majority of NRA members support that,” she said, referring to the powerful lobbying group National Rifle Association.

The White House contender surprised many during this week's debate with Trump when she admitted that she and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are gun owners.

She reiterated this in her eleven-minute interview on Friday and at the same time repeated her election campaign promise that the country wants to be united and take a new direction.

“Most Americans want a leader who will bring us together as Americans, not someone who will pretend to be a leader and try to get us to point fingers at each other,” she said, referring to Trump. “I think people are exhausted by that, to be honest.”