Where do Vance, Walz stand on gun control? Differing visions emerge at VP debate.

(This story was updated to change a photo.)

Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz faced off during Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, including a line of questioning on gun violence in American schools.

Both candidates acknowledged the impact of gun violence as parents of young children.

Vance suggested empowering law enforcement to address illegal gun possession and increasing security in schools as policy solutions.

“We have to make the doors lock better. We have to make the doors stronger,” Vance said. “And of course, we’ve got to increase school resource officers, because the idea that we can magically wave a wand and take guns out of the hands of bad guys just doesn’t fit with recent experience.”

Fact Check: What Tim Walz, JD Vance got right (and wrong) at the VP debate

In response, Walz highlighted Minnesota’s enactment of enhanced red flag laws and background checks as proactive steps toward reducing gun violence.

Walz also noted the successful approaches seen in other countries, like Finland, where gun ownership coexists with significantly lower rates of gun violence.

“They don’t have (mass shootings) happen, even though they have a high gun ownership rate in the country,” Walz said. “There are reasonable things that we can do to make a difference. It’s not infringing on your Second Amendment rights.”

How often do mass shootings happen in the U.S. vs. other Western countries?

The U.S. makes up 33% of the population when combined with 36 other Western countries. However, it is responsible for 76% of public mass shootings and 70% of the deaths from those shootings between 2000 and 2022, according to a February report from the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

According to the report, the U.S. has experienced 109 mass shootings compared to 3 in Finland, which has had no mass shootings since 2010.

Mass killing database: Revealing trends, details and anguish of every US event since 2006

More: Hawaii Rep. Jill Tokuda takes aim at 'zombie gun' loophole creating untraceable firearms

How prevalent are unregistered firearms?

Traditional firearms are manufactured by licensed companies and sold through licensed dealers, with all legal guns in the U.S. required to have serial numbers.

The absence of serial numbers or background checks for ghost guns, or guns that are untraceable, makes it impossible to determine the exact number of unregistered firearms in circulation.

Jeremy Yurow is a politics reporting fellow based in Hawaii for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter @JeremyYurow

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where do Vance, Walz stand on gun control? Stances emerge at debate.