09
Oct
2014
You may have noticed that the NRA has begun running an ad against Congressman Bruce Braley this week (you can see it here) that claims Braley voted to take away gun rights.
But what you might not know is that it's essentially a carbon copy of an ad the gun lobby has been running against Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu - one that has been fact-checked by at least four different media organizations and found to be outright dishonest. The Washington Post gave it the maximum four Pinocchios for its "hyperbolic disconnect between between the images on the screen and the practical impact of the law in question", FactCheck.org called it "misleading", while Time Magazine named it one of the five most dishonest political ads of 2014 and Politifact's rating for that same ad: "Pants on fire".
The same results would be found on a fact check of the NRA's claim against Braley's record as well. Braley co-sponsored the House version of the same background check legislation backed by Landrieu - a bill that would have closed the loophole that allows criminals and other dangerous people to easily get guns, no questions asked.
The NRA knows background checks don't infringe on anyone's rights and that they don't put law-abiding citizens in danger, as the ominous ad would like voters to believe. Yet the NRA sought to radically deceive voters by running a shadowy attack ad smearing Braley's record.
When covering the heated Iowa senate race, we're hopeful you'll let your readers know about these NRA distortions - and consider editorializing in favor of having local stations pull this ad down because it is based on a lie.
