'Don’t Let Hillary Leave You Defenseless' uses scare tactics to promote NRA
The National Rifle Association isn’t known for its subtlety, and its latest ad campaign uses blatant scare tactics to make you believe Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wants to take away your guns if she is elected.
The gun lobby’s 'Don’t Let Hillary Clinton Leave You Defenseless' ad shows a woman who hears a noise outside in the middle of the night. She gets up to run to her phone and call the police while activating her gun safe and grabbing her gun. The calm female voice over notes that the average response time for 911 is 11 minutes, then says “but Hillary Clinton could take away her rights to self defense, and with Supreme Court Justices, Hillary can.” The gun then fades away as the woman drops the phone to the floor, with the voice over saying, “Don’t let Hillary leave you protected with nothing but a phone.” The NRA’s logo is splashed up at the end, as cop cars pull up to crime tape at the house.
It’s an ominous ad meant to scare people into voting against Hillary, which is nothing new for the NRA, but with Donald Trump having the full backing of the NRA, it’s obvious that the Republican use of scare tactics and fear are leading the charge. The NRA is also one of the strongest political lobbies in the US, and they have said before that any Democratic president will take away all guns. That cry has never been founded and there is no sign that Clinton wants to do anything more than call for sensible gun laws.
That won’t stop the NRA, however. Visit the site they list on the YouTube channel that is showing the ad, the NRA Political Victory Fund, and you’ll see a ton of quotes attributed to Clinton regarding gun control, with “Hillary Clinton is Coming For Your Gun Rights” on a banner at the top.
Another NRA ad also plays on fear, using some of Donald’s Trump’s fiery rhetoric to lambast Clinton’s policies. “Hypocrite Hillary Leaves You Defenseless” shows a woman who looks like Clinton from the back getting out of a limo and on to a private plane. It calls her “one of the wealthiest women in politics” and tries to play up her privileged status, then uses this verbal stinger to drive home the NRA agenda: “but she doesn’t believe in your right to keep a gun at home for self defense...an out-of-touch hypocrite, she’d leave you defenseless.”
Whether or not the NRA is trying to sway new voters towards their side through fear, or they are trying to solidify their base, these ads have a definite agenda.