A school shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia this week left four dead and nine others injured, reigniting the debate about gun violence and school security in the final stretch of the presidential election."We have to end this epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all," Vice President Kamala Harris told a crowd in New Hampshire a few hours after Wednesday’s shooting. Harris supports gun reforms such as universal background checks, red flag laws and an assault weapons ban. The Democratic platform also proposes safe storage requirements. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate and a former high school teacher, said he supports the Second Amendment but added, “Our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe.”"We believe in the freedom to send our kids to school without being shot dead in the hall," Walz said at a rally in Pennsylvania on Thursday.Former President Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, said new gun restrictions are not the answer. "Clearly strict gun laws is not the thing that is going to solve this problem," Vance said at a rally in Phoenix on Thursday. Instead, Vance supports efforts in Congress to enhance school security."I don't like that this is a fact of life, but if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets, and we have got to bolster security at our schools," Vance said.Harris seized on those comments on social media. She posted on X, “School shootings are not just a fact of life. It doesn't have to be this way.”Vance accused Harris of taking his comments out of context, adding, "Kamala wants to take security out of our schools instead of protecting our children."Vance appears to be referencing comments Harris made during her first presidential bid. "What we need to do about taking, demilitarizing our schools and taking police officers out of schools. We need to deal with the reality and speak the truth about the inequities around school discipline. Where in particular, Black and Brown boys are being expelled and or suspended as young as, I've seen, as young as in elementary school,” Harris said.The Harris campaign didn’t respond to emailed questions about whether this is still her position or whether she would support a federal policy on this. However, the Biden-Harris administration supported a law that included additional funding for school security, in addition to student mental health resources and gun reforms. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was passed in 2022 following a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. A report released this summer detailing the implementation of the law noted, “Schools in over 2,100 communities are using BSCA funding to update safety plans, hire mental health professionals and school resource officers, carry out community violence interventions, install security equipment, and take other steps to improve school safety.”As for gun reforms, the report found the law has stopped 800 firearms sales to individuals under age 21, a 25 percent increase in the number of background check denials. It also said fourteen states are using new federal funding “to increase effective use of red flag laws, helping to keep guns out of the hands of people who are in crisis.”Our partners at Fact.Check.org found Trump has a mixed record on gun control. During his time in office, Trump took some steps to strengthen federal gun laws, but his administration also has eased gun restrictions.After the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, Trump also suggested arming teachers who have gone through training. Trump, who has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, has not proposed any new gun reforms following the school shooting in Georgia. Instead, he issued a statement on Truth Social, “Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA. These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster.”