America’s ideological divide on the issue of gun control has also impacted the presidential campaign after Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance expressed regret that school shootings in the United States have become “a fact of life.”

Vance’s comments – in the wake of the recent fatal shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia – sparked a political dispute after Democrats portrayed them as evidence of a lack of empathy, while Republicans claimed the remarks were taken out of context.

Vance called for more security measures in schools but did not mention gun control, while Democrats like Kamala Harris and US President Joe Biden are calling for a ban on assault rifles, more background checks and other security measures to protect against guns.

When asked about the Georgia shooting at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on Thursday night, Vance said, “I don’t like that. I don’t like admitting that. I don’t like that it’s a fact. But if you’re a psychopath and you want to make headlines, you have to realize that our schools are easy targets.”

The boy accused of the Georgia school shooting is 14 years old.

Vance continued, “We need to strengthen security at our schools so that a person who comes through the front door and wants to kill a bunch of kids can’t do that. As a parent, do I want my kids’ school to have extra security? No, of course not. But that’s increasingly the reality we live in.”

These remarks, which followed an attack on the pro-gun control stance of Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate for the November election, were immediately seized upon by the Harris campaign team.

“School shootings are not just a fact of life,” the Democratic candidate posted on X (formerly Twitter), linking to footage of Vance’s comments.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. We can do something to protect our children – and that’s what we will do.”

Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, had accused Harris of wanting to “take away guns from law-abiding citizens.”

On the issue of gun control, Republicans and Democrats are increasingly polarized: one party stands for the rights of gun owners, the other identifies with efforts for stricter controls.

However, the dispute between the two presidential candidates was overshadowed by Republican anger at the Associated Press, which was accused of misrepresenting Vance’s comments in a post on X.

“JD VANCE says school shootings are a ‘fact’ and calls for better safety measures,” the post said. It was later removed and replaced with a more nuanced version with more detailed explanations.

“JD Vance says he regrets that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and says the US must tighten security measures to prevent more carnage like this week’s shooting that left four people dead in Georgia,” the second version said. A second follow-up post said, “This post replaces an earlier post that was deleted to add context to the partial quote from Vance.”

On X, the posts were met with derision. The platform’s owner, Elon Musk, wrote: “AP stands for Associated Propaganda.”

Responding to a question from Fox News host Sean Hannity about the Georgia shootings at a Fox News town hall on Wednesday, Trump said, “The world is sick and angry for many reasons, and we are going to make it better and we are going to heal our world.”

The former president has been accused of showing a lack of compassion following previous shootings. Responding to a deadly attack last January in Perry, Iowa, that left three people dead, he said: “It’s just horrible, so surprising to see this. But we have to get past this – we have to move forward.”

The suspect, 14-year-old Colt Gray, is in police custody and is expected to face four counts of murder in connection with Wednesday’s shooting in Georgia that left two students and two teachers dead. Authorities have filed second-degree murder charges against his father, Colin Gray, for allowing his son to possess the gun.