After the National Rifle Association endorsed Mitt Romney for president last week, the group aired its first TV ad of the 2012 election season attacking President Obama. It’s not that the administration has pushed for any specific new gun laws here, but a proposed UN arms treaty the US could potentially sign onto is at issue. The NRA fears it will impose “burdensome” reporting requirements on civilian sales and gifts of guns.
Many gun owners and politicians are concerned it’s an end run on much stronger gun control. “A United Nations arms treaty would almost certainly force the U.S. to create an international gun registry, setting the stage for full-scale gun confiscation,” noted Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA).
The Obama administration had entered into talks on the treaty, but they broke down in July, with the U.S. and other weapons-exporting nations saying more time was needed to reach agreement.
The new ad accuses Obama of “chipping away at your rights, chipping away at your freedom.” The NRA’s political arm, NRA Political Victory Fund, said it would spend about $1.5 million this week to air the ad in Ohio, Virginia, Florida and Wisconsin, all critical battlegrounds. The group said it planned to air TV ads in swing states through Election Day, reported WAPI-FM.
When asked for the grand total the NRA-PVF planned to spend on ads, NRA-PVF spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said, “as much money as our members send us.” The group said it would focus on targeted online advertising, in addition to television. NRA-PVF previously aired ads in January and February that attacked Obama for the Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.
In the new TV ad, a narrator says: “Mountains of debt, threats to our sovereignty, chipping away at your rights, chipping away at your freedom. And now, they’re attacking our Second Amendment rights, but you can stop them right now. Defend freedom, defeat Obama.”
Here’s the ad:
