-I thought, what a great opportunity.
We have all these students in our audience tonight.
-Yeah. -I thought it would be
great to maybe take some questions from them.
-Oh, that'd be great. I'd like that.
-Is that okay? -Yes, of course.
-Breanna from NYU. Where is Breanna?
[ Cheers and applause ] Hi, pal.
[ Applause continues ]
-Go ahead, Breanna. -Hi, Senator.
So, as a first-generation college student
that comes from a lower socioeconomic background,
student loans were kind of inevitable for me.
And with graduation right around the corner for me,
I want to know what you would do for students like me
who are going to graduate with massive amounts of student debt.
-Yeah, that's right.
It's one of the biggest issues facing our students.
Here's my plan.
One, we need to have debt-free college.
We need to have free community college.
And I'm also prepared to make sure that we provide
interest-free loans.
Because nobody should be profiting --
[ Cheers and applause ]
Breanna, nobody should be profiting off of your desire
to get an education.
[ Cheers and applause ] All right?
So -- -That's great.
-And congratulations to you. Congratulations to you.
That's wonderful.
-Where's Andrew from Fordham? Andrew.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Andrew, whenever you're ready. -Yeah, sure.
Thank you for being here and taking my question.
Do you believe in the mandatory buyback
of quote-unquote "assault weapons"?
And whether or not you do, how does that idea
not go against, fundamentally, the Second Amendment?
-Yeah. Great question.
I do believe that we need to do buybacks,
and I'll tell you why.
First of all, let's be clear about what assault weapons are.
They have been designed to kill a lot of human beings quickly.
They are weapons of war
with no place on the streets of a civil society.
I've seen assault weapons kill babies and police officers.
So, one, I'll tell you when elected President,
if the United States Congress continues to fail to have
the courage to do something about this,
I'm prepared to take executive action
and put in place a ban on the importation
of assault weapons into our country.
But we still have to deal with
the over 2 million assault weapons that are
currently in the streets of America.
And so a buyback program is a good idea.
Now, we need to do it the right way.
And part of that has to be, you know,
buy back and give people their value,
the financial value of what they have
and not just take things from people that have value
without compensating them.
We need to do it the right way.
But we've got to deal with the fact
that these people in Washington, D.C.
have failed to have the courage --
How many of you guys, as college students,
had to have a drill
during high school or middle school
or elementary school, where you --
or even in college, where you learned about
how you need to hide in a closet
or crouch in a corner
in the event that there is a mass shooter
roaming the hallways of your school?
Look at that. Look at that.
And here's the thing.
It terrorized you.
It is traumatizing.
I don't want that any of our children
should have to sit in class,
when you should be paying attention to what's happening
in the front of the classroom,
letting your mind open up to the wonders of science,
math or art or whatever,
and instead have to be worried about who's going to come
banging through the door carrying some kind of weapon.
Leaders need to lead on this issue.
And so, I'm telling you, when elected,
if Congress fails to act, I'll give them 100 days
to put a bill on my desk for signature.
And if they do not do it,
I will put in place by executive action
a comprehensive background check requirement
and a ban on the assault weapons
and the importation of assault weapons into our country.
I'm done.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Wow.
[ Applause continues ]
-Look at how many raised their hand.
-We have time for one more.
This is from Audrey, Columbia.
She goes to school in Columbia. Audrey.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Whenever you're ready.
-Hi. So it's on everyone's mind,
and I have to ask... -Okay.
-In-N-Out or Shake Shack?
-In-N-Out. Are you kidding me?
[ Cheers and applause ] -Come on! Shake Shack!
-In-N-Out. I am a California girl.
-Oh, my -- -In-N-Out.
-In-N-Out or Shake Shack? Oh, my --
We'll have a taste test.
Thank you so much for taking the time to come here.
-Okay, it's great to be here with you, Jimmy.
-Good luck to you.
Senator Kamala Harris, everybody!