Ohio's junior Republican Senator, James David "J.D." Vance, was named Monday as the Republican Nominee for Vice President for the 2024 election. Where does he stand on the Second Amendment?

Vance, 39, a Marine journalist who served in Iraq, is on his first term in Congress and made a name for himself in 2016 after he penned the best-selling book, "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis."

While he points out on his campaign site that he grew up with guns – "His grandmother, called Mamaw, was his saving grace. Her tough love and discipline kept him on the straight and narrow. A 'blue dog' Democrat, she owned 19 handguns and nurtured a deep Christian faith in herself and her family" – there seems to be some evidence that he leaned towards red flag laws of some sort in 2018.

Since then, he has become a stalwart of gun rights in recent years. 

Vance's legislative record on gun policy, as highlighted by the Bloomberg-backed Everytown anti-gun group, ironically showcases his 2A creds in a very "Princess Bride" sort of way: 

J.D. Vance has a long record of opposing common-sense gun safety measures — he believes that neither expanding background checks nor Red Flag laws will solve the problem of gun violence. 

He opposed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and supported arming teachers in classrooms. 

Senator Vance has called gun violence “fake problems” and efforts to address it “a huge distraction.” 

The NRA spent nearly $500,000 supporting the NRA-endorsed, A-Rated candidate’s 2022 Senate campaign. 

Vance advocated for abolishing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).

As for the NRA, on Tuesday they applauded Trump’s announcement of Vance as his running mate. 

"Senator Vance has been an unwavering supporter of constitutional freedoms, especially the right to keep and bear arms," said Randy Kozuch, Chairman of the NRA Political Victory Fund. "In the U.S. Senate, he has consistently stood against the Biden-Harris gun control agenda."

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade group for the American firearms industry, rates Vance highly. 

Sen. Vance has led and lent his name in support as a co-sponsor of pro-industry, pro-Second Amendment legislation including S. 214, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act; S. 410, the Hearing Protection Act, to remove firearm suppressors from the list of regulated items under the National Firearms Act (NFA); S. 293, the NSSF-priority Fair Access to Banking Act; and also S. 2736, the successful bipartisan Congressional effort to block President Biden’s Department of Education from prohibiting funding from going to youth recreational shooting sports and hunter education training programs.

Banner image: U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance during a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee in March 2024 (Congressional video screenshot).