Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS), the foundering gun control group started by former congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her hypocritical husband Mark Kelly, have been trying to throw their support behind a group of embattled Democrat politicians in key 2014 U.S. Senate, only to see the politicians running away from them just as fast as they can.

The message was clear: Thanks, but no thanks.

The candidates — Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado, Sen. Mary L. Landrieu in Louisiana, Sen. Kay R. Hagan in North Carolina and Rep. Bruce L. Braley, vying for Iowa’s open Senate seat — have tried to avoid the gun debate in key races that will determine whether their party keeps its majority in the U.S. Senate.

Ms. Giffords, who survived a gunshot to the head by a deranged assailant three years ago at an event in her congressional district in Tucson, remains a sympathetic figure. But as a leading advocate for gun control measures, her support could do more harm than good for Democrats in firearm country.

Make no mistake: each and every one of these four Senate candidates would be more than happy to sign the sort of citizen control laws that ARS and other gun control groups support, they simply don’t want to run the risk of voters finding out their anti-gun positions (or remembering their pro-gun control votes) before the November elections.

Kay Hagan, Mary Landrieu, and Mark Udall all voted for the Machin-Toomey gun control bill that created loopholes to begin a federal gun registry and called for a system of unworkable background checks. Braley, running for Iowa’s open Senate seat, is more radically leftist than all current Senators on gun control (including socialist Bernie Sanders), and opposed Machin-Toomey for not being radical enough in attacking the Second Amendment.

They’re all hope that you won’t remember their anti-gun records, because the issue could sink all four candidates trapped in tight races.

Kay Hagan is disliked in purple North Carolina by even her fellow Democrats for an undistinguished and ineffectual first term, and gun-loving conservative Tarheel Democrats might just vote for Thom Tillis or opt to stay at home in this toss-up race rather than support her pro-gun control positions.

Mary Landrieu is already polling behind Republican challenger Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, and her gun control votes won’t play well in the bayou.

Udall is in a toss-up race against Republican Cory Gardner, and if gun control becomes an issue, it will likely sink his campaign.

In Iowa Braley’s “most-radical” position on guns could be the difference in a dead-heat race against Republican Joni Ernst.

In each of these four U.S. Senate races, the support for gun control by each of these candidates could doom them, and as the GOP needs only six seats to take control of the Senate. It isn’t too much of a stretch to say that while gun control won’t be the main theme in any of these races, the wedge issue could like effect voter enthusiasm in “get out the vote” campaigns. Gun owners and gun rights supporters have always been more politically active and numerous than gun control supporters.

As a supporter of the Second Amendment, I hope that Gabby Giffords and Mike Bloomberg continue their ham-handed support of citizen control cultists. It never hurts for citizens to remember who is voting to protect their gun rights, and who is attempting to undermine them.