Scott Powers
The National Rifle Association and Gabby Giffords‘ Americans for Responsible Solutions are weighing in on Florida’s 7th Congressional District race between Republican U.S. Rep. John Mica and Democratic challenger Stephanie Murphy.
The first shot fired was by Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun-law-reform group founded by former Arizona congresswoman, Giffords, who was shot and nearly killed in a mass shooting, and her husband, retired NASA astronaut and Navy Capt. Mark Kelly. That group’s first mailer attacking Mica for his pro-gun stands arrived in CD 7 mailboxes Friday.
The Federal Election Commission reports show the AFRS Political Action Committee spent $40,000 so far on mailings to oppose Mica.
That same report shows the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action spent nearly $14,000 on mailers supporting Mica, though that filing was just made on Thursday and the mailers may not be out yet.
That’s only the start.
Federal Communication Commission records show the NRA has purchased $90,000 worth of TV commercials on one station, WESH-2, the NBC station in Orlando, to start running Oct. 29. No NRA commercial purchases show up yet on other Orlando stations, though there is an NRA notice to buy time at WOFL-35, the Fox station.
