Rob Quist on Guns, According to the NRA

If you can’t beat em, shoot em.

After Democrats have nearly taken two reliably-red districts in Kansas and Georgia, the special election in Montana to replace president Trump’s newly-appointed Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, is starting to get a lot of attention.In the special election for Montana’s one and only congressional seat, Democrat and locally-known country music star Rob Quist has been making waves. The district hasn’t been held by a Democrat in 20 years – but that follows a similar story just wrapping up in Kansas, and another still under way in Georgia.And that has Republicans worried – or at the least many argue it should.But before the national GOP inevitably descends on Montana to burn Quist to try and burn Quist to the ground, the National Rifle Association is taking their shots at him first.After referencing an Associated Press report that claims Quist had some trouble paying his taxes, the NRA goes right into their perception of Quist’s record on the Second Amendment.“Quist doesn’t support our gun rights,” the narrator says. “He’s said, ‘I fully support Second Amendment rights,’” we hear Quist say, before the narrator cuts him off. “But he got caught pushing gun control. He even said we should be forced to register our guns.”Defend freedom! Reject Rob Quist” the narrator says as the clip ends with Quist’s face in the inside of a guitar, with the strings cast over his face like prison bars.If you want to be a successful Democrat running in a state as red as Montana, there’s a few ideologies that you have to buck your party over. None perhaps more obvious than gun rights.Quist is no different – expressing his support for gun ownership many times. In his new ad, “Defend” he’s quite blunt about it.We first see Quist loading an old cowboy repeater while standing at the end of his truck’s tailgate in an open Montana field. “For generations,” he proudly says, “This old rifle has protected my family’s ranch. In Congress, I’ll protect your right to bear arms because it’s my right too.”“I won’t stand by while a millionaire from New Jersey tries to attack my Montana values,” Quist says as he looks down his sites at a TV, airing the NRA’s ad. “I’m Rob Quist – and I approve this message, to defend your rights.”Defiantly, and the butt of the rifle pressed firmly to his shoulder he adds, “But I’m sending this one to defend mine.”The ad ends as Quist nails a direct hit on the TV, putting it out of commission for good.