John Shinkle/POLITICO Gun ad: Rubio making Fla. 'less safe'

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is out with an ad buy slamming Sen. Marco Rubio for his positions on gun control, charging that his “presidential ambitions make Florida less safe.”

“Marco Rubio, a new senator, but already looking past Florida, thinking of running for president,” the ad begins. “And that has Rubio running to the right, opposing a bill on comprehensive background checks.”


The anti-gun violence group, backed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has taken out the ad buy targeting the Florida Republican in the Sunshine State. It comes as the Senate prepares to move forward on gun control legislation Thursday. On Wednesday, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are expected to unveil their proposal for an agreement on background checks.

Rubio, for his part, is considered key to another piece of Bloomberg’s agenda — immigration reform. He is also considered a top contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, something the ad emphasized as it bashed him for his stance on background checks and for indicating that he would support a filibuster of gun control legislation.

“Ninety-one percent of Floridians support background checks,” the ad continues. “But Rubio’s presidential ambitions make Florida less safe.”

“Gun control groups are going after the gun rights of law-abiding Americans, and now they’re going after Marco Rubio for standing up to them,” said Alex Burgos, Rubio’s communications director. “Marco considers it a badge of honor to be attacked by big government liberals who want greater government control over what you eat, what you drink, and even how you protect your family.”

Mayors Against Illegal Guns has singled out other senators — on Tuesday, for example, the group launched an ad buy highlighting the role Toomey could play on the guns issue — but the ad buy targeting Rubio appears to be one of the more far-reaching, negative in-state buys.

“Throughout this debate, we’ve run ads where we believe they’ll make the most difference,” Erika Soto Lamb, spokeswoman for the group, said in an email. “And we’ll continue to do so in an effort to help move commonsense gun legislation that the American people want through Congress.”