“I have a Glock, and — I’ve had it for quite some time,” Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said in an interview that aired Monday on CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” “My background is in law enforcement.” She added that she has fired the weapon at a shooting range...

Gun-rights advocates denounced Harris for owning a firearm while she was arguing for policies that would restrict which weapons people would be allowed to buy. She previously supported mandatory buybacks of assault weapons. She has since recanted her position, but she continues to support a federal assault weapons ban. In 2008, she led a group of district attorneys who urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to strike down a broad ban on handguns in Washington, D.C., arguing that it would interfere with state and local governments’ authority to create their own firearm laws; the court ultimately overturned the law.

“Out of one side of her mouth, she sees the social utility of firearms for her. But she doesn’t want anyone else to have access to the most effective tools to defend themselves or their families,” said C.D. Michel, a California attorney who is representing the gun-rights advocates suing California over its handgun safety law. “I think that she’s basically a hypocrite.”