AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

Years ago, I spoke with a first-time congressional candidate on the topic of guns. His comment when asked about them had been, “Yes, I support the Second Amendment. I’m a hunter, and…” I pointed out to him that saying he’s a hunter as why he’s a defender of the Second Amendment might signal that he’s only interested in part of the Second, not all of it.

But then we have some avowed anti-gunners who want to interfere with your right to keep and bear arms while they own guns for protection. Most famously, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).

Now, we can add Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) to the list as well.

At a campaign stop in Iowa, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and California Sen. Kamala Harris stated that she owns a gun for protection.

“I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason that a lot of people do: for personal safety,” Harris told a group reporters. She cited her past as a career prosecutor.

She went on to try to distance herself from far-left proposals to confiscate firearms while promoting other forms of gun control.

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

It’s not a false choice. It’s what’s on the table.

For decades, gun rights supporters have been told to give ground. They’ve been told to take a step back and to allow their rights to slowly be stripped in the name of compromise. Over and over again, it happens.

When the 20th century opened, there were no restrictions on what guns people could own. A few cities had gun control, but there was unfettered access to arms. People could order a freaking machine gun through the mail.

Time after time, Second Amendment supporters find themselves being told that to be reasonable, they have to back down. They have to give up their rights. Americans went from being able to own anything to having to ask for permission for certain guns. Then people couldn’t get them through the mail anymore. Then they had to get a background check before purchasing one.

Over and over again, the nation’s Second Amendment rights have been whittled away, but now it’s clear where this is heading.

Sen. Harris suggests that when it comes to the Second Amendment, people can be pro-2A and pro-gun control. They can’t. That’s not how any of this works, especially because of what comes next.

Next, it’ll be a ban on assault rifles that somehow becomes a ban on all semi-automatic weapons. When that doesn’t stem the tide of violence, at least in the anti-gunners’ minds, they’ll target something else. It’ll keep going until the right to bear arms only applies to a pellet gun.

And that’s if the country’s lucky.

Not once has someone like Sen. Harris offered up anything that remotely looks like a compromise. Not once has her ilk suggested giving ground in one place in exchange for another.

All gun grabbers want to do is take from us.

Meanwhile, Sen. Harris touts her gun ownership like it’s some talisman, something she thinks should absolve her from criticism. It’s not and it won’t.

Hat tip: The Daily Wire