On September 17 Breitbart News reported that Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS)–the gun control group founded by Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly–was running an ad attacking GOP Congressional candidate Martha McSally for defending the Second Amendment.

In the ad, family members who lost other family members to criminal misuse of a guns were paraded before the camera in an emotional plea meant to shame McSally into turning her back on gun rights.

On September 19 the Arizona Republic condemned the ad, saying it “waves the bloody shirt” by taking “the tragic death of two innocents” and trying to lay them at McSally’s feet. The Republic says the ad’s “base and vile” approach is hurting Giffords’ image while leaving McSally untouched.

The Republic says the ad is “more than Hardball politics,” it’s the “[exploitation] of a family’s tragedy to score cheap political points.”

McSally is running against Representative Ron Barber (D-AZ) for the seat in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District. It is the same seat Giffords held when she was in Congress.

Barber supports placing more gun control on the American people. McSally says we don’t need more laws, rather, we need enforcement of the laws already on the books.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.