NY lawmakers condemn NRA image of photos and bullets


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NEW YORK (AP) — Two state lawmakers behind a bill to control ammunition sales are condemning an image published by the National Rifle Association that shows their photos surrounded by bullets.

Sen. Roxanne Persaud and Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, both Democrats, introduced the legislation last month.

America's 1st Freedom, an NRA online newsletter, responded with an editorial this week opposing the measure, and it posted an image of Simon's and Persaud's photos taped to what appeared to be a desk, surrounded by four bullets.

One bullet is partially resting on Simon's photo.

"I think it is irresponsible in the times that we are living in to place a target around someone," Persaud told the Daily News on Tuesday. "By placing someone's picture with bullets next to them, you are playing on the fears of people."

The legislation would limit the amount of ammunition gun owners can purchase to no more than twice the capacity of their weapons every 90 days. Simon called the measure an "anti-stockpiling bill."

A request to the NRA for comment wasn't immediately returned. Mark Chestnut, editor at America's 1st Freedom, wrote in the editorial that the plan was "one of the most ridiculous anti-gun schemes I've seen in some time."

"In truth, such legislation should simply be laughed off and quickly forgotten," he wrote. "Unfortunately, the anti-gun climate in New York requires that we all take it seriously."

The ad, which was also tweeted by the gun lobby, was criticized by a host of New York officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott Stringer.

It evoked a photo published in 2010 by Republican Sarah Palin that listed several Democrats who voted for the Affordable Care Act and included their districts in crosshairs. In early 2011, one of those representatives, Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, was shot and seriously wounded by a gunman who killed six people.

The ad's publication comes the same week that President Barack Obama announced his intention to take executive action on gun control.

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