NRA Spot Angers Minority Lawmakers

A new TV commercial from the National Rifle Assn. has angered some minority lawmakers because of its portrayal of blacks and Latinos in a series of mug shots. The commercial, which asks Congress not to create more federal gun laws until current ones are enforced more aggressively, started airing Oct. 11. It shows dozens of mug shots of criminals prosecuted in Ohio. While there are many whites in the mug shots, a large percentage are minorities. One Latino lawmaker, Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), said he thought the portrayal of Latinos in the commercial was “repulsive.” Chief NRA lobbyist Jim Baker said critics are “grasping at straws trying to avoid the real message here: that prosecutions on federal gun laws have dropped.”