NRA warns voters that Clinton will leave them unprotected

The National Rifle Association’s new spot is aimed at people who are already afraid, and hammers Hillary Clinton for wanting to leave them defenseless.

The gun rights group said it’s spending $5 million to run the spot on national cable and on regional stations in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia. The ad does not mention Donald Trump, who the group endorsed in May. But it does dovetail with messages that both he and the NRA have delivered before, casting Clinton as an elitist who would take away individuals’ guns while benefiting from armed protection herself.


The ad, called “Nightstand,” shows a woman, alone in bed, awakened in the night by an intruder. She dashes for a landline phone, and a gun stored in a safe. But it fades away before she can grab it.

A narrator says the average 911 response time is 11 minutes.

“Hillary Clinton would take away her right to self defense, and with Supreme Court justices, Hillary can,” the narrator says. “Don’t let Hillary leave you protected with nothing but a phone.”

Self defense against other people has become the top reason for gun ownership in the United States, according to a new study from Harvard and Northeastern University researchers. About two-thirds listed that reason for owning guns in 2015, The Trace reported, and handgun ownership has risen proportionally compared with rifles. That’s despite drops in violent crime over recent decades.

While Clinton has made tighter gun laws, including universal background checks, a centerpiece of her campaign, she has not said she wants to ban firearms or repeal the Second Amendment. However, the NRA points to comments she made at a fundraiser that the Supreme Court is “wrong on the Second Amendment,” an apparent reference to a 2008 case that affirmed an individual’s right to bear arms.

With its latest buy, the NRA has spent more than $11 million to support Trump’s candidacy, adding to its status as the biggest outside spender. The group’s previous spot highlighted that Clinton has armed protection, even as she would restrict it for others. Trump recently seized on this line of argument as well, in a way that some interpreted as inciting violence.

Speaking Friday in Miami, Trump called for her “bodyguards” — the U.S. Secret Service — to disarm.

“Take their guns away. She doesn’t want guns … let’s see what happens to her. Take their guns away, OK? It’d be very dangerous,” Trump said. That followed an ad-lib in August when he said “Second Amendment people” could stop her from nominating Supreme Court justices if she wins the election.