Some people may have noticed that the use of firearms in political campaign ads has been on the rise the last few election cycles.

In 2010, a Senate candidate in West Virginia ran an ad in which he shot a hole through a climate change bill, making a metaphorical point about his opposition to environmental regulations and a literal point abut his support for Second Amendment gun rights.

And this year, Missouri gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens fires off an actual machine gun on camera to show that when he fights back, against things like Obamacare, he “brings out the big guns.”

To date, it’s safe to say, nearly all such ads have been run by conservative Republicans. But this year, state Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, has rolled out a new digital ad in which he fires off a shotgun, not once but three times, to demonstrate how he “takes aim” at Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s policies.

There are a couple of interesting aspects to the ad, starting with the fact that it’s currently being distributed only through social media, via his Facebook and Twitter accounts — another growing trend in campaign advertising. Holland said it may air on cable networks in the district later in the cycle.

Second, it would appear in the ad that Holland actually hits three clay pigeons in a row in the span of about 30 seconds. There are no jump cuts or visible signs of editing or digital enhancement.

“I really hit all three birds in one take, no digital enhancements really,” Holland said in an email when asked to verify that fact. “There were a few takes, however.”

Finally, though, the ad makes no mention of his opponent, or even the fact that he has one. Her name, by the way, is Echo Van Meteren of Linwood. She hasn’t yet joined the ad wars, although it’s a virtual certainty that she will, since she’s married to a principal in one of the leading GOP consulting and PR firms in Kansas, Singularis Group.

Instead, Holland’s ad tries to convey the message that the election is all about Brownback, which has been a consistent message among most Democratic candidates in Kansas this year.

But Holland could be wandering into treacherous waters with a gun ad since another significant issue this year, especially in college communities like Lawrence, is the state’s new concealed carry gun law, and the mandate that public colleges and universities allow concealed carry on campus beginning July 1 next year.

Given that, it may be unlikely we’ll see too many more ads from Democrats in Kansas this year touting their marksmanship skills in campaign ads.