Donald Trump is focusing on running up his margin of victory in rural areas to offset his weakness in the suburbs, and the NRA is boosting this effort with a $5 million advertising campaign focused on smaller media markets in battleground states, reports the Washington Post. The group’s dramatic new commercial, which begins running today, features a woman asleep in bed when an intruder breaks in. Hearing glass shatter, she runs to get a gun. But the safe holding her weapon disappears. A narrator says it takes police an average of 11 minutes to respond to a 9-1-1 call. The spot ends with yellow police tape and cop cars at the house, leaving the impression that something terrible has happened to the woman.
“Hillary Clinton could take away her right to self-defense,” a female narrator says. “And with Supreme Court justices, Hillary can. Don’t let Hillary leave you protected by nothing but a phone.” Half of the $5 million NRA ad buy will go toward broadcast networks in rural Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia. The other half will run on national cable, including Dish and Direct TV, which disproportionately serves rural communities. The group hopes the spot will resonate with moderate women who feel vulnerable to crime.