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A Democrat running for a seat in Colorado’s sixth congressional district is taking an unorthodox approach to getting the vote out.

Levi Tillemann, a progressive candidate running for a House seat this year, released an ad last week that he hopes will shine a light on alternative approaches to gun control in schools and other soft-target areas.

“I’m calling on Congress to stop talking past each other and try something new,” he says in the video. “Empower schools and teachers with non-lethal self-defense tools, like this can of pepper spray.”

The entire 2-minute video, aptly titled “This Will Save Lives,” is entertaining on just about every level.

You’ve got to love out-of-the-box thinkers like Levi Tillemann. Just an earnest, stand-up guy with big hopes and dreams to solve gun violence with a gallon of pepper spray and a pinch of good luck.

I’m sure his heart’s in the right place (actually, I’m not), but this has got to be one of the stupider political ads out there. It just goes to show you how ignorant some people can be about self-defense. Pepper spray is one of the worst things school kids could arm themselves with. It shouldn’t take a genius or a professional to figure that one out.

Still, all of this makes for comedic gold, and I wish the former Obama administration official nothing but the best.

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