“I also believe in background checks, so that terrorists can’t get their hands on one of these,” he says, propping up the completed rifle and offering a challenge in his approval message as he peels off his blindfold. “I approve this message because I’d like to see Senator Blunt do this.”

THE MESSAGE One that many Democrats have fought to deliver when attacked by the National Rifle Association — that being for background checks does not indicate a candidate is against the Second Amendment. The N.R.A. gave Mr. Kander, currently Missouri’s secretary of state, an “F” rating when he ran for that office, based on his record when he was a state legislator.

THE TAKEAWAY Politicians have long fired guns and rifles in ads to prove their Second Amendment bona fides, but rarely has one shown such comfort with an assault rifle as Mr. Kander in this ad. The commercial also lets Mr. Kander remind the viewer, as he often reminds voters on the campaign trail, that he has a military background, while Mr. Blunt does not. Mr. Kander is still trailing Mr. Blunt in the polls but only by a few percentage points, so despite Missouri’s reliably Republican voting record in the presidential election, the state is far from an assured victory for Mr. Blunt.

Changing channels …

Earshot

In nearly every Republican primary, candidates vie to take the mantle of Ronald Reagan and fashion themselves in the image of the popular president. And Donald J. Trump has often praised Mr. Reagan in his remarks and speeches, sometimes drawing parallels to his own campaign. But a new ad from Priorities USA, the “super PAC” supporting Hillary Clinton, tries to use Mr. Reagan’s words against Mr. Trump. The ad quotes a speech from Mr. Reagan: “We are one nation, under God; the black and white, we are one nation indivisible, that Republican and Democrat, we are all Americans.” It quickly cuts to harried scenes of chaos at Trump rallies, with supporters assaulting protesters, security staff struggling to contain a crowd, and Mr. Trump saying, “Do you know what they used to do to guys like that? They’d be carried out on a stretcher folks.”

Targeting

The Clinton campaign has made reaching out to young people and African-Americans a priority, dispatching Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to Ohio this weekend with that very mission. In North Carolina and Florida, the campaign is airing radio ads aimed at young African-Americans, featuring the actor Terrence J’s recollection of his days at a historically black college. He sets up her plan as the only one to help the colleges as a way of setting the stakes, before making his main pitch: “As HBCU students and alums, our families, our friends have to get registered to vote, and the only candidate running for president who has our back is Hillary Clinton.”