Taxpayers covering sheriff's pro-gun radio ad

MILWAUKEE (AP) - The Milwaukee County sheriff's radio ads urging residents to learn how to use firearms so they can defend themselves are being paid for with taxpayer money, the sheriff told a newspaper.
    
Critics have said Sheriff David Clarke Jr.'s ads that began airing last month discourage people from using 911 and instead promote gun proliferation. Supporters say Clarke accurately described the need for citizens to take responsibility for their families' personal safety.
    
Clarke told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in an email Friday that the ads are public safety announcements.
    
"Every penny we spend belongs to the taxpayers of this county," Clarke wrote. "We use public funds on public education as a means to work with people on ways designed to keep them safe. It's called crime prevention."
    
Clarke's department has an $84.9 million budget for 2013, with 85 percent coming from county property taxes. Most of the rest comes from state and federal funds. The exact amount being spent on the ads couldn't be determined from invoices and other department records reviewed by the newspaper.
    
But Clarke's office has agreed to buy more than $17,000 in radio ads this year, including the gun-themed ads. Last year, the department spent nearly $26,000 last year on safety ads.
    
In the spots, Clarke suggests the public can't count on quick enough police response to an emergency 911 call, and should consider getting gun training "so you can defend yourself until we get there."
    
The spots drew strong reaction from supporters and critics of the message, which was delivered in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., shooting and as the national debate over gun control has heated up.
    
Milwaukee County Supervisor John Weishan Jr. said the sheriff's ads did not qualify as something that promotes general welfare and safety and were an inappropriate use of public money.
    
"This has nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with self-promotion," Weishan said.
    
County Executive Chris Abele said he didn't view the ads as public service announcements, but he didn't question whether it was OK to use public money. He said he wouldn't spend county money in that way.
    
"He gets to make his choices," Abele said, adding: "Does anybody think this radio ad was the best use of that money?"