Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is trying to win re-election despite a strong Democratic headwind in his state of Pennsylvania, in part by touting his centrist bona fides on gun control. Toomey notably sponsored a bipartisan bill expanding background checks after the Sandy Hook.
"And Pat Toomey?" says the narrator, "Against an assault weapons ban and against banning high capacity ammo clips like those used in the Orlando massacre." A head shot of Toomey is shown, surrounded by guns and ammo clips.
In summing up Toomey's record, the narrator skips past his support for expanded background checks, and seeks to nail him for his past ties with the NRA: "Listen to Pat Toomey brag." We then see video from a July 18th town hall, seemingly recorded by a Democratic tracker, of Toomey saying "I have had a perfect record with the NRA."
The Toomey campaign responded that his comments from July were part of his defense for his background check proposal that the NRA opposed. A local newspaper report of that event said, "...he defended the effort Monday and called himself a supporter of the Second Amendment. 'I do not think that background checks are an infringement,' he said."
The NRA "A" rating was given to Toomey in 2010 before he broke ranks with his background check proposal, but the NRA apparently has not revisited the rating for 2016. An April dispatch from the gun news site The Trace reported that the Toomey was "unbothered by [the] prospect" of getting a downgrade from the NRA. Today, Toomey may be bothered that he didn't.
Pat Toomey Tries To Distance Himself from the NRA
But the Democrats don't want to concede the issue. Senate Majority PAC is up with a an ad yoking Toomey to the NRA. "Perfect Record" begins with the positions of Toomey's Democratic challenger Katie McGinty: "For background checks, for banning assault weapons and banning high capacity ammunition clips.""And Pat Toomey?" says the narrator, "Against an assault weapons ban and against banning high capacity ammo clips like those used in the Orlando massacre." A head shot of Toomey is shown, surrounded by guns and ammo clips.
In summing up Toomey's record, the narrator skips past his support for expanded background checks, and seeks to nail him for his past ties with the NRA: "Listen to Pat Toomey brag." We then see video from a July 18th town hall, seemingly recorded by a Democratic tracker, of Toomey saying "I have had a perfect record with the NRA."
But Democrats Tag Toomey With "A" Rating from the NRA
The ad concludes with the narrator saying "Pat Toomey gets an 'A' from the NRA. He's not for you."The Toomey campaign responded that his comments from July were part of his defense for his background check proposal that the NRA opposed. A local newspaper report of that event said, "...he defended the effort Monday and called himself a supporter of the Second Amendment. 'I do not think that background checks are an infringement,' he said."
The NRA "A" rating was given to Toomey in 2010 before he broke ranks with his background check proposal, but the NRA apparently has not revisited the rating for 2016. An April dispatch from the gun news site The Trace reported that the Toomey was "unbothered by [the] prospect" of getting a downgrade from the NRA. Today, Toomey may be bothered that he didn't.