A lobbyist for the National Rifle Association compared a Washington state campaign to require criminal background checks for gun show sales to Nazi Germany.

Brian Judy, the NRA’s chief state lobbyist, launched a personal attack last week on Seattle businessman Nick Hanauer, whose family has pledged $500,000 to campaign to close the gun show loophole.

“He has put half-a-million dollars toward this policy, the same policy that led his family getting run out of Germany by the Nazis,” Judy said during a July 23 anti-Initiative 594 meeting.

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“It’s like, how stupid can they (be) — you know?” he continued, as the crowd laughed. “Now, he’s funding — he’s put half-a-million dollars toward this policy, the same policy that led to his people getting run out of Germany by the Nazis.”

Hanauer wrote in a recent article advocating a higher minimum wage that his family had been pillow-makers in Germany before fleeing to the United States from the Nazis.

“You know, it’s staggering to me, it’s just, you can’t make this stuff up,” Judy said. “That these people — it’s, like, any Jewish people that I meet who are anti-gun, I think: Are you serious? Do you not remember what happened?”

“And why did that happen?” Judy continued. “Because they registered guns and then they took them. And now you’re supporting gun control — you come to this country and you support gun control. Why did you have to flee to this country in the first place? Hello? Is anybody home there?”

The NRA lobbyist’s comments, which were caught on audio tape and first publicized Monday by the liberal Horse’s Ass blog, sparked calls by Jewish groups and Democratic lawmakers for Judy’s resignation.

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“Eight years ago, the Jewish Federation was the target of a violent attack by an individual harboring dangerous falsehoods about Jews — falsehoods that continue to exist on the fringes of our society,” said the Jewish Federation of Seattle in a statement.

“It is deeply offensive for anyone to suggest that Jewish supporters of gun violence prevention have ‘forgotten’ the history of our people,” the statement continued.

The Jewish group described Judy’s comparisons of gun restrictions to Nazi Germany as “ignorant” and “exceedingly dangerous.”

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Update: Media Matters has compiled a list of previous instances where NRA representatives compared gun laws to Nazi policies.

Listen to Judy’s comments in this video posted online by David Goldstein:

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[Image: Serious Man In A Suit Holding A Rifle Isolated On A White via Shutterstock]