HELENA -- With partisan tensions running high at the Montana Legislature, Democrats and Republicans clashed again Friday over a mailer attacking several Democratic lawmakers for their vote last month against a gun-rights bill.

And, once again, Republican House leaders were apologetic for the piece, saying they had nothing to do with it.

"I agree with the fact that that is garbage; you can quote me on that,'' House Republican Leader Michael Lange of Billings said on the House floor.

Lange also said he won't support for party chair anyone who would sanction such attacks, and promised to bring up the issue at the party's June convention that chooses the next party chair.

Democrats, however, were spitting mad, saying two additional lawmakers received the mailer this week after Republicans leaders had disowned it and said they would have it stopped.

House Democratic Leader Art Noonan of Butte also said it's the first he can remember a political party using campaign-style attacks on lawmakers while the Legislature is in session.

"This is the first time that these politics of hate are going to go out while we sit in this body,'' he said. "This is the start of something that we can stop in its infancy.''

The blow-up comes as House Democrats and Republicans are locked in a bitter partisan tug-of-war over the state budget, with neither side showing any signs of compromise.

Republican Party Executive Director Chris Wilcox told the Lee Newspapers State Bureau Friday it was his decision to send out the mailers this week, and that all were sent at the same time.

The mailer, sent to households in five lawmakers' districts, blasted each individual lawmaker for voting against House Bill 340, which broadens the definition of self-defense when using a firearm.

The two-page mailer pictured each respective lawmaker, described them as "anti-gun,'' said they believe "using deadly force to defend yourself against a criminal makes you the criminal,'' and listed a phone number where constituents could call each of them and tell them their ''anti-gun stance is dead wrong.''

It also had a picture of a corpse in a body bag, with the words "Is this your neighbor?'' super-imposed across the top of the picture.

The five Democrats targeted by the piece are Reps. Julie French of Scobey, Doug Cordier of Columbia Falls, J.P. Pomnichowski of Bozeman, Bob Ebinger of Livingston and Bill McChesney of Miles City.

All are freshman lawmakers who won relatively close races last November in swing districts, and four of them defeated Republican incumbents.

Democrats objected to the mailers on the House floor Wednesday.

At the time, Rep. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, the new chair of the Republicans' Legislative Campaign Committee, apologized for the piece and said he didn't know about it in advance.

On Friday, he said he had spoken with Wilcox, who agreed that McGillvray would review any future mailings referring to fellow lawmakers.

Wilcox said no additional mailings were sent after the Wednesday blow-up.

On that day, French, Cordier and Pomnichowski had seen mailers show up in their district. By Friday, Ebinger and McChesney said they, too, had heard about mailers hitting their district.

McChesney angrily denounced the mailer Friday during a Democratic caucus meeting at the Capitol, saying his wife and 17-year-old son had received intimidating calls because the mailer listed his home telephone.

"It was blatantly callous; it was unnecessary,'' he said. "It was unprincipled.

"Take me on; I can deal with it. I've got thick skin. But leave my family out of it.''

HB340 passed the House Feb. 27 on a 57-42 vote, and all "no'' votes came from Democrats. Wilcox said thought it was important to tell voters when Democrats are voting against gun rights.

"Some folks don't like that, but I can't count on these guys to go tell their district that they're anti-gun,'' he said.

HB340 opponents, which include most law-enforcement groups in the state, say it could give legal advantages to criminals who claim self-defense when committing a gun-related crime.