NRA aims to paint Obama as anti-gun

Buoyed by last week's Supreme Court decision striking down Washington D.C.'s ban on handguns, the National Rifle Association is planning to spend millions to ensure John McCain keeps the White House in Republican hands.

The Politico's Jonathan Martin reports that the NRA intends to drop some $40 million over the next four months, including $15 million devoted specifically to portraying Obama as unfriendly to gun owners.

"Our members understand that if Barack Obama is elected president, and he has support in the Senate to confirm anti-gun Supreme Court nominees, [the District of Columbia v. Heller decision] could be taken away from us in the future," Chris Cox, who heads the NRA’s political arm, told Politico.

Read the full Politico story here.

Obama's take on gun rights is essentially that the same rules aren't appropriate in all settings. While an urban municipality plagued by violence should be able to enact strict gun laws, he says, gun enthusiasts in a rural state halfway across the country should be able to use and enjoy their firearms. Obama's record on the issue is somewhat fuzzy. Running for state Senate in the 1990s, Obama indicated on a questionnaire that he supported a handgun ban, but he has since disavowed that, blaming his staff for the declaration.

The NRA isn't buying it, though.

"During the primaries, Obama tried to hide behind vague statements of support for 'sportsmen' or unfounded claims of general support for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms," the group says on its website. "But his real record, based on votes taken, political associations, and long-standing positions, shows that Barack Obama is a serious threat to Second Amendment liberties."