Shameless: Ford exploits October 1 victims in new ad

Aaron Ford is so desperate to be the state’s attorney general that he’s willing to baselessly accuse his opponent of trading the lives of Nevadans for a few hundred dollars. To make it worse, Ford is using those who died in the Oct. 1 shooting as political props.

“October 1, 2017, 58 people died on the Las Vegas Strip,” begins the ad, which Ford released Thursday. “Soon after (Republican attorney general candidate) Wes Duncan took part in a political fundraiser to auction off an AR-15. The exact same kind of high-powered, military-style assault rifle used in the shooting. It sold, and they cheered. Auctioning off our lives for $750.”

Try to follow this logic. A murderer used an object to commit a horrendous act. A politician attends an event at which a law-abiding citizen purchases a similar object. Therefore, that politician “auction(ed)” off the lives of Nevadans. That doesn’t make any sense.

It’s such a flawed line of reasoning that you can use it to “prove” Ford wants Americans to die. On Sept. 11, 2001, Islamic terrorists flew airplanes into the Twin Towers and Pentagon, killing thousands. After that event, Ford purchased numerous airline tickets. Therefore, Ford traded “our lives” to meet his transportation needs.

Then there are several smaller falsehoods.

The event, a Carson City Lincoln Day dinner, took place in February. That’s more than four months after the Oct. 1 tragedy — hardly “soon.” Duncan attended the event, but Carson City Republicans held the auction. The ad presents zero proof Duncan took part in that, aside from attending the event.

In addtion, calling a civilian-owned weapon “military-style” is a canard. Military rifles have a three-round burst mode. Those types of weapons are highly regulated under the 1934 National Firearms Act. “Military-style” has come to mean only that a firearm looks like a weapon used by the military, not that it functions like one.

“Aaron Ford’s ad callously exploits the pain of 58 families who just experienced the worst year of their lives all for the sake of his political ambition and desperation to win,” Duncan said in a statement. Ford “is bereft of substance, devoid of character and lacks the moral leadership to serve the state as the next attorney general.”

Duncan is correct to be outraged, but that ad isn’t just an attack on him. Ford’s ad implies that if you attend an event at which someone buys an AR-15, you want Nevadans to die. Imagine what Ford thinks of you if you’re one of the tens of thousands of Nevadans who actually owns such a weapon. And because handguns are responsible for 90 percent of firearm murders, it requires only a small step to infer from the ad that those who own any gun are OK with dead Nevadans.

Gun rights supporters view firearms as morally neutral. A gun is a tool that can be used for good or evil, just as fire can cook a meal or burn down a house. The Ford ad presents certain types of firearms as inherently evil. The implication being that just holding an AR-15 overrides someone’s decision-making ability and leads to the death of innocents.

Ford’s ad isn’t just a shameless attack against Duncan. It also smears the vast majority of Nevada gun owners who use their weapons legally.

Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Listen to him discuss his columns each Monday at 9 a.m. with Kevin Wall on 790 Talk Now. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.