WASHINGTON _ Sen. Kamala Harris of California said Friday she supports a mandatory buyback of military-style assault weapons, taking a more aggressive position than her main rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.
"I think it's a good idea," she told reporters after a campaign event in Londonderry, N.H.
"We have to work out the details _ there are a lot of details _ but I do" support a forced buyback, Harris said when asked about the policy. "We have to take those guns off the streets."
Harris's higher-polling rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, back banning sales of semi-automatic rifles like those used in recent mass shootings but stop short of calling for a forced buyback of guns already owned. Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas has said he would require owners of such weapons to sell them to the government.
A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 49% of Americans oppose a mandatory buyback of assault weapons while 46% favor the idea. But among Democrats, 71% support the idea while just 23% are against it.
