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A new ad airing in Virginia and Washington is taking aim at gun violence, but its main sponsor is a face most familiar in New York.

Mayor Bloomberg has long criticized Virginia's gun laws which he said not only allowed the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, but also the killing of NYPD officer Russel Timoshenko, whose mother traveled with Bloomberg.

"A young police officer in the NYPD was murdered with a gun from Virginia," said Bloomberg.

That gun was traced to a now-shuttered dealer in the state.

Bloomberg has tangled with rogue stores before, but now he's after another scourge of gun control groups -- a Virginia law that allows some weapon sales at gun shows without background checks of purchasers.

"It's easier for a criminal to buy a gun at a gun show than it is for a 20-year-old to buy a beer, or for anyone to rent a car," said Bloomberg.

The ad is timed to Thursday's second anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting, in which 33 people died, including the ad narrator's sister.

But it also seeks to sway a race for Virginia's governor by targeting the Republican candidate, Bob McDonnell.

The Republican former state attorney general publicly sparred with the mayor two years ago, after Bloomberg ran undercover stings on Virginia gun shops.

McDonnell accused the mayor of meddling. The city agreed to alert authorities and dealers since have settled with the city.

In a statement, McDonnell's campaign says the candidate thinks that tough gun laws are already on the books and just need to be better enforced.

Three Democrats running also support changing the law.

Bloomberg brushed aside fears that wading into local politics could drum up support for McDonnell.

Last year, weapons fans even held a Bloomberg gun giveaway raffle to criticize the mayor which drew about a hundred people.