Well, This Political Ad Will Get Your Attention

Jerone Davison, a Republican who is running for Congress in Arizona’s fourth congressional district, released a campaign ad yesterday with the message “Make Rifles Great Again” and a video showing the candidate taking on the Ku Klux Klan with an AR-15. The tweet has 4 million views and over 27,000 likes as of this post.

In the video voiceover, Davison says:

Democrats like to say that ‘No one needs an AR-15 for self-defense. That no one could possibly need all 30 rounds.’ But when this rifle is the only thing standing between your family and a dozen angry Democrats in Klan hoods, you just might need that semi-automatic and all 30 rounds.

 

In response to a tweet from someone criticizing Davison for what the person claims is an outdated problem — men in Klan hoods and robes — Davison explains, “I was born in 1970 in Mississippi. When the KKK came to town, I always felt safe, because my father had rifles to protect us.” He goes on to say that the ad is a depiction of a situation he faced when he was younger. 

This isn’t the first time this year that a GOP candidate for Congress has released a provocative political ad. Just a few weeks ago, Eric Greitens, the disgraced former Missouri governor now running for Senate in Missouri, released a political ad showing him going “RINO Hunting.” In the ad, Greitens and armed soldiers raid a home. Before entering the house, Greitens, wielding a shotgun, whispers, “The RINO feeds on corruption and is marked by the stripes of cowardice.” The ad could be interpreted as condoning political violence against certain Republicans. It was immediately criticized by politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Of course, Davison’s ad is starkly different: He is taking on white supremacists, not people of a different political bent. Surprisingly, Twitter has not yet taken down Davison’s tweet. While the ad is melodramatic, it gets the point across: Firearms can help minorities defend themselves against people who pose threats to them and their families. And it effectively weaponizes Democrats’ claims against them. According to the Left, white supremacists, whom they equate with Republicans, lurk in every corner of America. Far-left Democrats often say that being black in America is dangerous. If that is true, using their logic, why shouldn’t a black American own an AR-15? Also, if you buy the progressive argument that the police are systemically racist, then blacks should not have to rely solely on police for protection. Suddenly, it is becoming clearer why Twitter has yet to remove Davison’s ad.  

Davison’s political ad may be over the top, but it conveys an important political message to Democrats who advocate sweeping gun-control measures that would disarm law-abiding Americans.