Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, an A-rated National Rifle Association member who has angered gun rights groups by pushing for stronger background checks, is back on television with a rifle in his hands.
But Mr. Manchin, a Democrat who appeared in a 2010 campaign commercial that showed him firing a bullet through a piece of environmental legislation, is taking aim at the N.R.A. this time, at least in the figurative sense.
In a new commercial, the senator, who is not up for re-election until 2018, tries to turn the tables on the N.R.A., which has accused him of walking away from his commitment to honor the Second Amendment.
“West Virginia, you know me. I haven’t changed,†said Mr. Manchin, who was governor of the state before he was elected senator. “Now I believe that we can protect the Second Amendment and make our community safer. I think most law-abiding gun owners agree with me.â€
He says defiantly that he does not march in lock step with the N.R.A.’s Washington leadership.
The ad is rich with imagery that is meant to resonate in West Virginia’s sports-shooting culture. Mr. Manchin is shown strolling through a field, aiming the rifle and polishing it as he sits in the back of a pickup truck.
The ad is a direct response to an N.R.A. television campaign against Mr. Manchin. The gun group has been running an ad in West Virginia accusing Mr. Manchin of siding with President Obama and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, an ardent proponent of gun control who has been waging his own campaign against senators who do not support gun control.
A Manchin campaign aide said that the ad buy was about $100,000, enough to rival the N.R.A.’s campaign.
