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."

"I am a gun owner," Harris said while campaigning in Iowa, "and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do—for personal safety." Her aides scrambled to explain that the senator's handgun was "purchased years ago" and is "locked up."

Harris doubled down, pointing out, "I was a career prosecutor." She could have said, "Dealing with dangerous criminals while serving as district attorney in San Francisco I felt compelled to have a handgun. After leaving that job I disposed of the weapon."

But she didn't. She played to the heartland gathering by suggesting it is wise to own a handgun for protection simply because you're afraid. Such thinking presumably extends to people riding the subway or walking home at night, or driving a car among road-raged motorists. It is exactly the bogus argument that gun opponents are seeking to deflect.

According to the non-profit group Stop Handgun Violence, "Women are five times more likely to be shot by an intimate partner than attacked by a stranger." Moreover, "A gun in the home actually makes household members more likely to be a victim of a homicide or suicide than in homes without guns."

Research by The Washington Post shows that six of 18 Democratic presidential contenders own firearms, but only Harris has a handgun. With former Vice President Joe Biden's entry into the race Thursday, make that seven of 19. Beto O'Rourke and Pete Buttigieg are among the gun owners—but their weapons are old and inoperable. Buttigieg, a Navy veteran, says he has two antique pistols that are never fired. You can add to the list Joe Biden who owns a rifle.

Senator Harris has wisely called for banning assault weapons and requiring universal background checks for gun purchasers. However, she seems to misunderstand the nuances of the gun control argument—particularly among elected officials and candidates for high office, whose actions speak loudly.

While progressives support the legal reforms Harris advocates, they also seek a shift in gun culture. That means setting an example for why guns, particularly handguns, are part of the problem, not the solution.

At this week’s CNN town hall on the campus of Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, moderator Don Lemon noted that many students are "concerned about how gun violence might affect them or a family member." That led to a routine question about gun control, but neither the student questioning the senator nor Don Lemon thought to ask Harris if she owns a gun.

This time, Harris didn’t care to boast about her handgun. She returned to her standard stump speech, blaming lawmakers who "have failed to have the courage" to act reasonably about guns. "You're either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone's guns away," she said. This, she insisted, was a "false choice."

Perhaps. But Kamala Harris doesn’t seem to have the courage to concede that owning a handgun for protection is a bad idea. 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.

(c) Peter Funt. This column originally appeared in USA Today.