OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty says an officer who went up against a teenager armed with the civilian equivalent of the military's AR-15 assault rifle should never have been put in such a situation.

Police said Officer Katie Lawson was struck six times among 26 rounds fired by 18-year-old Hector Escalante in a confrontation last August, and she fired back with her police-issue .45-caliber pistol.

Citty told The Oklahoman newspaper that he wants to see laws changed to make it harder for criminals to get such weapons and easier for police to trace them.

But gun-rights advocates say new gun laws aren't the way to respond to the problem. Charles Smith, executive director of the Oklahoma Rifle Association, says such proposals have been made before, and soundly rejected.