An op-ed published in USA Today has been widely criticized for arguing that Sen. Kamala Harris' gun ownership is a “disqualifying” issue precluding her from being elected president.

USA Today opinion contributor Peter Funt said the California Democrat “apparently thinks it’s fine to own a handgun for personal safety,” which he insisted was a “position held by the NRA, not progressive Democrats” and that her gun ownership is a “under-publicized revelation.”

"Her words are fine, but for a progressive like me, they are undermined by that handgun. And I can't be the only one who is disturbed. Keeping a handgun for personal safety is a bedrock conservative view. The best defense against a ‘bad guy with a gun,’ the NRA falsely argues, is ‘a good guy with a gun,’” Funt wrote.

Funt appeared to take issue with Harris’s reasoning behind purchasing a gun, in which she said that as a career prosecutor she dealt with “dangerous criminals” and she “felt compelled to have a gun.”

“Kamala Harris doesn’t seem to have the courage to concede that owning a handgun for protection is a bad idea,” Funt continued. “Instead, she has given voters a real choice: Back candidates who care enough about gun control to not own handguns, or support the only major Democratic contender who has one and won't throw it away.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The op-ed was torched on social media.

Harris is one of the Democratic frontrunners in the 2020 race, averaging in third place in the polls according to Real Clear Politics.

Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @JosephWulfsohn.