The National Rifle Association has released a new video that attempts to rebut a TV ad calling for stronger gun laws by pushing a false claim about that ad that originated in the right-wing media.

In March, several conservative media outlets including Fox News highlighted Washington Times senior opinion editor Emily Miller's claim that ads released by Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) to promote expanding the background check system featured a man using unsafe gun handling. In particular, Miller and the right-wing media falsely claimed that the man's finger was on the trigger of the firearm. 

The NRA used the same claims to undermine the ad in their own web video released April 15. According to the ad's narrator, “every gun owner watching probably noticed... the finger dangerously close to the trigger.” The narrator suggests that this is not “responsible firearms handling.”

But as Media Matters has noted, this is a false claim that critics are making based on a misunderstanding of where the trigger is on the firearm.

The right-wing media and the NRA have been engaged in a fervent effort to prevent the expansion of the background check system, which already stopped the sale of almost 2 million firearms in the first 15 years the system was in place, despite glaring loopholes that pending legislation would close. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Americans support expanding the system.