NRA's new fearmongering ad series argues that proponents of stronger gun laws are pro-murderer

The National Rifle Association's newest ad series, “Save the 2nd,” features 30-second spots that describe horrific crimes before making the fallacious argument that efforts are underway to prohibit law-abiding people from protecting themselves from killers.

The series, which debuted on July 16 and is hosted by NRATV’s Colion Noir, is premised on the NRA’s claim that efforts to regulate firearms are tantamount to helping killers. The series’ tag line is “When you hear people wanting to restrict your right to protect yourself, know this. They're helping killers and terrorists, not law-abiding citizens like you.”

The first season spotlights four criminal incidents, involving a terrorist convicted of organizing the Benghazi terror attacks, a registered sex offender who covered himself in blood after strangling his victim, a parolee who shot a law enforcement officer, and a father and stepmother who killed their son by abusing him and then fed his remains to pigs:

COLION NOIR: Have you ever heard of Ahmed Abu Khattala? He's the terrorist mastermind behind the 9/11 Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans. Our system of so-called justice gave him only 22 years in prison. Khattala could walk free among us in the next two decades, where no law will stop him from killing again. So when you hear people wanting to restrict your right to protect yourself, know this: They're giving terrorists like Khattala rights, and not protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens like you.

NOIR: Have you ever heard of Miguel Hernandez? I doubt it. On July 27, 2014, the registered sex offender violently beat and strangled a man inside of his home. When the police found Hernandez, he had covered himself in blood and was claiming to work for “the dark prince.” No law stopped Hernandez from killing. So when you hear people wanting to restrict your right to protect yourself, know this: They're helping killers like Miguel Hernandez, not law-abiding citizens like you.

NOIR: Have you ever heard of Dominic Cinelli? I doubt it. In 2009, he was granted parole from three life sentences from shooting a security guard during an armed robbery. In 2010, the day after Christmas, he shot and killed a police officer. No law stopped Cinelli from killing. So when you hear people wanting to restrict your right to protect yourself, know this: They’re helping killers like Dominic Cinelli, not law-abiding citizens like you.

NOIR: Have you ever heard of Michael and Heather Jones? I doubt it. They starved, tortured and beat 7-year-old Adrian Jones for most of his young life. In 2015, after they killed him, they fed his remains to pigs. No law stopped these monsters. So when you hear people wanting to restrict your right to protect yourself, know this: They weren't able to stop killers like Michael and Heather Jones, so don't let them take away the rights of law-abiding citizens like you.

The crimes Noir describes are real, but the conclusions he draws from them are nonsensical. There is no movement in the United States to take away “rights” so that people would be prevented from defending themselves from the killers Noir describes. Noir’s argument also purposely ignores the ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, where the Supreme Court found that law-abiding citizens have “an individual right to possess a firearm in the home for self-defense.” Moreover, no gun violence prevention groups are calling for restrictions on self-defense. Instead, these groups typically advocate for policies like high-capacity magazine bans, red flag laws, and universal background checks on gun purchases. These policies do not implicate the Second Amendment right found in Heller and thus have been repeatedly upheld by courts.   

Noir has a history of putting forward legally dubious arguments in NRA videos, most recently releasing a video that attempted to dupe media organizations into thinking he was calling for Congress to limit the ability of the press to report on mass shootings.