Guns Are the New Wedge Issue

At least, the NRA is trying to make sure that they are: NRA ramps up campaign against proposed gun control measures.

As Vice President Joe Biden heads to Connecticut on Thursday in a bid to generate support for sweeping gun control proposals, the National Rifle Association is trying to flex its political muscle by ramping up its campaign to oppose those initiatives.

On Thursday, readers in local newspapers in five key states - Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina and West Virginia - will see an NRA ad headlined in bold (pdf): "Will Obama's gun control proposals work? His own experts say 'No,'" the group told CNN.

Those states are home to several Democratic incumbent senators who are expected to face tough re-election fights. They include Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Kay Hagan of North Carolina.

The ad campaign is also focused on West Virginia because Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is retiring and Maine, where moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins is also up for re-election next year.

The NRA is spending about $350,000 on this campaign, a source familiar with it told CNN, which includes not only the local newspaper ads, but regional ads as well as online commercials.

...The NRA has seen its membership rise to record levels as the gun control debate has raged since the Newtown school massacre in December. Group officials man booths at gun shows to not only build membership but to urge attendees to lobby against the proposals.

Besides new print ads, NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told CNN the organization is tripling the buy of a web video run on various news sites. Last week CNN was the first to report the group bought $100,000 worth of ad time to air the video on various news web sites in Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado, South Dakota, and the District of Columbia, Arulanandam said. Each of the five states has a Democratic senator seeking re-election in 2014.

...To help get its message out the NRA is also airing online ads in 15 states (Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia) - many of which will see competitive Senate races next year.

I don't even know what to say that I haven't already said a thousand times.