(CNN) Sen. Kamala Harris, whose stump speech includes impassioned calls for banning assault weapons and universal background checks, put it very simply: Yes, she owns a firearm.

"I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do -- for personal safety," the California Democrat said Thursday. "I was a career prosecutor."

The weight of that phrase was a reminder of the personal risk Harris has faced in her career in law enforcement, from being an Alameda County criminal prosecutor, San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general.

A Harris campaign aide said the weapon she owns is a handgun, which she keeps locked up, as a responsible gun owner. According to the aide, the handgun was purchased years ago.

Harris made the comment to reporters shortly after meeting supporters at a house party in Des Moines, Iowa. In the crowd were members of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America, the grassroots movement that's part of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun control advocacy group in the country. Harris thanked the Moms Demand Action members and again called for an assault weapons ban and "smart gun safety laws."

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