Sen. Pryor Responds To Gun Control Ad With TV Ad Of His Own

Days after two TV ad campaigns began slamming Sen. Mark Pryor (D) from the left and right, the state’s senior senator responded with his own television spot.

Pryor, who many political observers expect to be in the race of his life in 2014 due to Arkansas’ reddening politics, begins a TV ad campaign on Friday (May 31) to counter a spot sponsored by “Mayors Against Illegal Guns.”

The gun ad, pushed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, featured a former Democratic Party of Arkansas official who worked at the party during the point-blank shooting death of then-chairman Bill Gwatney. In the ad, former financial chief Angela Bradford-Barnes said, “…I was so disappointed when Mark Pryor voted against comprehensive background checks. On that vote, he let us down.”

A second ad from Senate Conservatives Action also began airing this week.  It claims Pryor has become liberal by voting with Pres. Obama on issues.

Pryor’s response ad features the senator looking into the camera claiming his support for the Second Amendment and his opposition to out-of-state political interests.

“The mayor of New York City is running ads against me because I opposed Pres. Obama’s gun control legislation,” Pryor said.

“I’m committed to finding real solutions to prevent gun violence while protecting our Second Amendment rights,” Pryor added. “I approved this message because no one from New York or Washington tells me what to do. I listen to Arkansas.”

You can view the ad below.

On a programming note, Sen. Pryor will be our guest on Capitol View on KARK-Ch. 4 this Sunday morning at 8:30 am.