Bloomberg ad on 'Responsible Maine' full of safety violations (VIDEO)

Doh! The first ad by Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership, a group funded in large part by Everytown, breaks multiple gun safety rules in the first few seconds.

The Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership is pushing a ballot referendum that would expand background checks to most gun transfers in an effort to make the state safer.

However, their first ad, released Friday, shows acts that are anything but.

“My grandfather taught me to shoot with this gun, now I am teaching my grandson,” says a distinguished graying gentleman identified as Brian Jackson of Manchester, Maine, as he walks a youth through a wooded area with a hinge break small caliber shotgun. Both wear blaze orange hunting vests.

“I’m teaching him to be responsible and safe,” he says, as the youth fires the shotgun without either eye or ear protection, with his eyes closed, and without a proper grip on the weapon that would allow for the boy to utilize the firearm’s sights. Basically, just blasting a gun in the woods in an unsafe and irresponsible manner.

Jackson then sits on his side-by-side with his .410 and talks about how dangerous Maine’s laws are and how a Yes vote on Question 3 in November will close loopholes that allow criminals to skirt federally mandated Brady checks on firearms.

What Jackson did not mention is that the very law he advocates would make it illegal in some instances to make extended loans of his grandfather’s shotgun to other members of his family for hunting or target practice without going through a background check performed at a gun dealer first.

“I hunt. I support the Second Amendment,” says Johnson, “And I don’t want dangerous people getting their hands on guns.”

Disclosures from the Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership Fund show $2,314,558 collected for the effort so far this year, with most of that from the New York-based Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action. Recent contributions include $125,000 from the Seattle, Washington-based entrepreneur Nicolas Hanauer and $25,000 from Maine author Stephen King.

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