The National Rifle Association (NRA) has launched a nationwide ad campaign featuring members such as Navy Cross recipient Marcus Luttrell and retired Marine Oliver North talking about gun rights.
The campaign, named Freedom's Safest Place, features a mix of NRA members relaying personal messages and stories. It began running in early September and will continue into the near future. The ads are running nationally on cable programs said NRA public affairs managing director Andrew Arulanandam. The NRA wouldn't divulge exactly how much they're spending on the campaign.
The videos feature a number of well known figures such as Luttrell, North, the Blaze's Dana Loesch, NRA News commentator Colion Noir, Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke, and NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre. It also features less well-known Americans.
One ad, titled "My Rights," features an elderly black woman who marched behind Martin Luther King Jr. at Selma and was threatened with eviction by the government housing authority after she decided to purchase a firearm for personal protection.
Another spotlights a Greek immigrant who survived the Nazi blitzkrieg and says it taught him never to give up his freedom.
Arulanandam told the Washington Free Beacon that the idea for the campaign came from Wayne LaPierre's interactions with everyday Americans during his travel around the country. "The driving force behind this ad campaign is Wayne LaPierre," he said. "The inspiration is, basically, the voices of the American people, the voices of NRA members, the voices of people he's talked to on the road as he travels this country."
"I think people who watch these ads will realize they're not alone. I think there's some reluctance in people to talk about what concerns them," Arulanandam said.
The ads, especially those featuring Dana Loesch and Marcus Luttrell, have garnered a lot of attention online since they first aired. Dana Loesch's ad, titled "Moms Like Me," has been viewed nearly 200,000 times on YouTube in less than a week.
Arulanandam said people have been personally moved by the ads. "The response has been overwhelmingly positive," he said.
Update 5:59 P.M.: This piece originally misidentified the metal Marcus Luttrell received. He received the Navy Cross, not the Medal of Honor.