Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has bagged an award from the powerful National Rifle Association, giving him bragging rights for his re-election bid next year in a state where hunting is a tradition. The Republican's opponents are defending their own gun-rights stands in the campaign cross-fire.
Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes points to her NRA membership and says she'd welcome McConnell to shoot with her at a gun range.
McConnell didn't respond to a reporter's question Friday asking if he'd take Grimes up on her offer.
McConnell's GOP challenger, Matt Bevin, says he has a license to carry concealed weapons and says he'd be a strong defender of constitutional rights.
McConnell was at a Bullitt County gun club on Friday to pick up the "Defender of Freedom" award from the NRA.
