Ad: Mike Coffman Sides with the NRA
Paid for by Giffords PAC and Giffords.org, the campaign support arms of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords’ foundation. Giffords, an Arizona congressional Democrat, was ambushed and shot in the head by Jared Lee Loughner in a parking lot during a constituent event in 2011. She survived the shooting but now suffers disabilities. She and her husband Mark Kelly have since become vocal gun-control proponents, especially taking exception to the role of the NRA in gun legislation.
The original ad was a staged text conversation between a girl named Emily, at school, and her mom. The conversation is about an active shooter in the school and reveals the panic on both sides. The girl’s name and the back and forth are similar to the famous and tragic texts between Platte Canyon High School student Emily Keyes and a reporter, minutes before the 16-year-old girl was shot dead by a man who’d charged the school in 2006.
After pushback this week, Giffords PAC agreed to modify the ad by removing the name.
After the text exchange, the ad states Congressman Mike Coffman’s association with the NRA. The ad is connecting the staunch anti-gun control influence of the NRA with school shooting violence, and connecting Coffman’s NRA support to that violence as well.
Allegation 1: The NRA has given Mike Coffman more money than any other Colorado member of Congress.
The ad cites OpenSecrets.org as a source. OpenSecrets is a well-regarded, non-partisan political research depository. It shows that since 2010, Coffman has received $33,700 from the NRA’s political PAC. It is above what other Colorado Republicans have received cumulatively from the NRA.
The Sentinel has pressed Coffman on this issue before, and he has consistently said he takes donations from the NRA like he does all stakeholder groups and does not see the campaign donations as a negative thing.
Verdict: Based in fact
Allegation 2: Mike Coffman has an “A” grade from the NRA.
It’s unclear where this citation is coming from, but the NRA substantiates the claim. It considers Coffman a defender of gun rights.
Verdict: Based in fact
THE BOTTOM LINE: This kind of text exchange is a nightmare for most American parents that too often has become a horrifying reality. Closely imitating the very real and heartbreaking exchange between Emily Keyes and her family just before she was slain by a crazed gunman that had gotten into her Bailey high school, the exchange easily touches parents with children in school. Giffords PAC is right to point out that hundreds of parents have now received texts like this from their children at subsequent school shootings and lockdowns. The connection between the NRA, which is famously public about its intractable, no-gun-regs stance, and school-shooting violence is debatable. For voters who believe the NRA is indirectly responsible for school-shooting violence because it effectively squelches gun control legislation, the ad sequence makes a powerful connection to Coffman. For voters who see the NRA as heroes rather than villains, or are unpersuaded that gun-control measures would curb or prevent school shootings, the ads conflate unrelated issues and can even appear gratuitous.