MSNBC has refused to air a dishonest anti-gun ad:

The cable network MSNBC has refused to air an advertisement from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the group created by New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg,on the grounds that the ad is too "controversial."

The ad, below, features each of the three leading presidential candidates pledging to make it harder to buy guns at gun shows, and images of three mayors urging viewers to call Congress and ask that a bill closing the "gun-show loophole" be passed.

The ad is airing on CNN and Fox, and on affiliates around the country, a Bloomberg aide said.

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But in an email obtained by Politico, an MSNBC account executive told the group the network wouldn't air the ad.

"just heard back from legal about your script...unfortunately, we can not accept as it is a controversial issue ad," said the email from the account executive.

New York's criminal-justice coordinator, John Feinblatt, called MSNBC's decision "amazing.'

"How could the network call something controversial that all three candidates agree about," he said. "All three cands have called for the gun-show loophole to be closed."

They can call it controversial because the "gun show loophole" is an urban legend—yes, a myth— that does not exist, even if all three candidates are willing to pander over it in their ignorance.

Commercial gun dealers have to fill out the same ATF form 4473 and conduct a NICS background check at gun shows as they do in their own shops and retail stores, a fact ignored by the candidates and Bloomberg.

Individuals selling firearms to other individuals are not required to conduct background checks regardless of their location in many states. Gun shows do not have an exemption.

Declining to run false advertising should never be controversial, even if it is pushed by a big city mayor with a history of breaking gun laws himself.

Cross-posted to Confederate Yankee. 

—Bob Owens is an investigative blogger who writes at Confederate Yankee.