By John Feinblatt

When Iowans go to the polls on Nov. 4, they'll be thinking about a number of issues. The economy. Immigration. National security. Guns.

As they consider all these issues, voters should have the facts.

One fact is that the National Rifle Association's political arm — which upped its spending in Iowa to $2 million — is lying about Bruce Braley's record.

The NRA Political Victory Fund has a new ad against Rep. Braley. A nearly identical ad against Sen. Mary Landrieu has hit the airwaves in Louisiana.

"Bruce Braley voted to take away your gun rights," says the narrator in the Iowa version — the implication being that such a vote left the ad's law-abiding homeowner defenseless and, with her spouse out of town, made her home an easy target for a criminal.

Scary stuff. But it turns out the ad's central claim isn't true.

The Washington Post gave the Louisiana version of the ad "Four Pinocchios." That's the score it reserves for whoppers.

PolitiFact's rating was an equally scathing "Pants on Fire."

FactCheck.org was slightly more polite about it, calling the ad "a long stretch" that "goes far beyond the facts."

TIME named the NRA's political spot one of the five most dishonest ads of the election season.

Those are some dubious distinctions. How did NRA headquarters respond?

Even after the press called them out, they doubled down — and adapted the same misleading campaign ad to run in Iowa against Rep. Braley.

Different candidate. Different state. Same lazy lie.

Consider the candidates' records. In 2013, Rep. Braley was one of 188 co-sponsors of a House bill that would require background checks on guns sold online, at gun shows and through classified ads. (The bill hasn't come to the House floor for a vote.) In the Senate, Mary Landrieu voted for the Manchin-Toomey background checks amendment, which would've done the same thing as the House bill.

As the fact-checkers have made clear, there's nothing in those bills about taking away gun rights. John McCain — a vocal supporter of Joni Ernst — voted for Manchin-Toomey. Would anyone believe the claim that Sen. McCain is trying to take your guns away?

In 1999, even the NRA's executive vice president testified before Congress that background checks for every gun sale were reasonable. It seems surreal to even ask — would anyone believe the claim that the NRA is trying to take your guns away?

The truth is that background checks don't infringe on anyone's rights. They don't put law-abiding citizens in danger, as the NRA's lobbying machine would have Iowa voters believe.

A vote for background checks is a vote for public safety. It's a vote against the status quo — against letting felons, domestic abusers and the seriously mentally ill buy guns without a background check, no questions asked.

Background checks help reduce gun crime and save lives. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia currently require background checks on all handgun sales. In such states, 38 percent fewer women are shot to death by their partners, and 39 percent fewer on-duty police officers are shot and killed.

Background checks are an effective, common-sense policy solution that Braley, Landrieu, McCain and lawmakers of all political stripes support — together with 92 percent of the American public, according to independent polling.

These facts aren't on the NRA leadership's side. So it's no wonder they lie — their political survival depends on it. False, fear-mongering ads are part and parcel of trying to convince more people that the NRA's special-interest agenda — more guns for anyone, anywhere, anytime — is an acceptable public safety policy.

Voters deserve better.

Ahead of the mid-term elections, candidates are debating every issue under the sun. As they talk about guns, they should know that state legislatures across the country — in California, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire and more — are increasingly finding common ground and passing laws that keep guns out of dangerous hands.

Candidates can be both for the Second Amendment and for sensible gun laws. That fact is bad news for gun manufacturers and NRA fundamentalists, and good news for families and communities.

That's the truth about the state of gun politics in America. In all of this year's election campaigns, certain other facts aren't up for debate, either.

The sky is blue.

The Cubs won't win the World Series this year.

A vote for background checks has nothing to do with taking away your gun rights.

Don't let the NRA's leadership tell you any different.

THE AUTHOR:

JOHN FEINBLATT is the president of Everytown for Gun Safety. Contact: info@everytown.org.