Sen. Joe Manchin is hitting back at ads launched by the National Rifle Association attacking his record on guns and will defend himself with the debut of his own ads later this week.
Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat and co-author of the unsuccessful bipartisan plan to extend background checks on gun sales, is making the ad in his native state Monday and plans to match the NRA's spending of $100,000,
according to MSNBC.
The NRA ad accuses Manchin of reneging on his commitment to gun rights, even though the senator, an NRA member, once enjoyed the group's highest "A" rating and worked with the NRA to get its approval on the background-checks proposal.
"The Washington NRA leadership is clearly out of step with the American people and law-abiding gun owners, and is now attacking Sen. Manchin for a position they once supported," Jonathan Kott, a Manchin aide,
told Politico.
"The Washington NRA leadership is trying to distort Sen. Manchin's commitment to the [Second] Amendment because they know he is one of the most credible defenders of gun rights who also believes that it just makes sense to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and those found severely mentally ill."
Manchin worked with GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania to craft the background-checks measure proposing to expand the system to include sales at gun shows and over the Internet.
The measure failed on April 17 to win the 60 votes needed to overcome a Senate filibuster. Manchin has pledged to introduce revised legislation, possibly later this year.
According to MSNBC, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he will advance a new measure provided he has the 60 votes needed, and he also plans to raise the issue Monday with Vice President Joe Biden.
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