Union miners walk out to protest NRA filming anti-Obama TV commercial at mine in northern W.Va.

A film crew for the National Rifle Association showed up at a Consol Energy mine in Monongalia County, W.Va., this week and, according to the United Mine Workers, asked several miners, “How do you feel about having your Second Amendment rights taken away if Obama becomes president?” Word sped to UMW President Cecil Roberts, who declared a memorial day, allowing the 440 UMW members at the Blacksville No. 2 mine to walk off the job in protest.

The UMW has endorsed Obama, but “Union members are the backbone of the NRA’s membership,” NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told Steven Greenhouse of The New York Times. A Consol official said the company had allowed an NRA crew to film at the site "several years ago without any problems," Greenhouse writes. "Consol asked the NRA not to use any of the interviews done at Blacksville in any future ads, and he said the NRA had agreed. He said the union went ahead with its work stoppage even though it had been informed that the interviews would not be used." UMW spokesman Phil Smith replied, “We were upset that the company allowed the N.R.A. to come on its property and try to use our members for political purposes knowing we had already endorsed Obama and a lot of our members had already endorsed Obama.” (Read more) For an earlier story from Courtney Dunn of WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, click here.