Sen. Kamala D. Harris, a 2020 presidential hopeful, said while campaigning in Iowa on Thursday that she owns a gun for personal protection and distanced herself from some of the more radical gun control proponents in her party.

“I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do — for personal safety,” she told reporters, calling it a necessity given her profession.

“I was a career prosecutor,” she said.

.@KamalaHarris on gun policy: “I am a gun owner … We are being offered a false choice, which suggests you’re either in favor of the 2nd Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away.” #IACaucus pic.twitter.com/qAmPpTRHY7 — Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) April 11, 2019

She also said that “a lack of courage from leaders” means that gun control proposals are often portrayed as outright confiscation.

She said in the clip posted Thursday that she favors “universal background checks” and restoring the ban on “assault weapons,” though she distanced herself from some of the voices among her Democratic primary rivals and liberal academics and historians.

“In terms of gun policy, though, I think that for too long and still today, we are being offered a false choice, which suggests you’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away,” she said.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.