Hillary Clinton is pressing Bernie Sanders on gun control, but she is pushing the issue much more in New Hampshire and in national ads than in Iowa.
Twenty-five percent of Clinton’s television ads in New Hampshire center on increasing gun control, compared to only 6 percent in Iowa, according to The Associated Press’s analysis of spots aired in the states on both broadcast networks and cable.
That analysis found that one rural part of Iowa hasn’t seen a Clinton gun control ad in one month.
{mosads}The analysis only includes official campaign ads, not those run by outside groups supporting Clinton, and does not extend to local channels.
Clinton has aired 300 pro-gun control spots in Iowa, compared to about 740 pro-gun spots in New Hampshire. In the Hawkeye State, a Clinton ad on the wage gap appeared 23 times more frequently than a gun control ad.
The report notes that hunting licenses are more common in Iowa than New Hampshire.
When contacted by the AP, a Clinton spokesman wouldn’t discuss the disparity in subject matter, instead emphasizing Clinton’s commitment to gun control.
“Hillary Clinton is the only candidate committed to common-sense gun violence reform and she talks about it everywhere she goes,” spokesman Jesse Ferguson told the AP, before adding that she has a “record of taking on the gun lobby.”
Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sanders, blasted out the AP story to reporters, along with a story about a 2008 NRA ad that parroted back Clinton criticizing President Obama on guns.
“Hillary was right: You can’t trust Obama with your guns,” the 2008 ad said.
Gun control has emerged as a key issue for the Clinton campaign as she seeks to attack Sanders from the left on the issue.
She’s also touted the endorsement of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a group that hosted a press call Monday called “Sanders panders on guns,” just hours before the candidates attended a campaign forum in Iowa.
Sanders is leading in most polls of New Hampshire, and is locked in a tight race with Clinton in Iowa, where surveys suggest his campaign is gaining steam.