As we’ve long known, politics makes for strange bedfellows, and the gun grabbing debate is no exception. For example, it probably came as no surprise to anyone with even a room temperature IQ that a certain deplorable, nanny-state mayor was getting in on the anti-Second Amendment frenzy. He’s been bankrolling numerous political ads supporting politicians voting for more gun control and against those who support the rights of gun owners. But you don’t produce a number of ads like that without some slick, expert help. Who did he turn to? How about GOP strategist Mike Murphy?

The ads that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun group has run defending Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and criticizing Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) were cut by GOP strategist Mike Murphy, sources familiar with the spots said.

Murphy’s ads come on the heels of DCI Group leading the work for Mayors Against Illegal Guns’s spots against Democratic Senators.

A MAIG spokeswoman confirmed Murphy shot the anti-Pryor spot POLITICO reported on this week. Sources familiar with the ads said Murphy, who worked on Mitt Romney’s 2002 Massachusetts governor’s race and Meg Whitman’s California governor’s race in 2010, also cut the spots defending Toomey.

Mike is a regular on the political chat circuit and I’ve generally enjoyed his work in the past. He’s a smart guy and often has some very good input on the political issues of the day. (And yes, I follow him on Twitter. In addition to being pretty smart, he’s hilarious.) But none of that changes the fact that I’ve got to look at him in a somewhat different light now. You have to know who the enemy is, even if he’s popping up in your own back yard.