Though the actual election is still eight months away, former Republican Congressman Dan Frisa ratcheted his comeback effort up a notch last Thursday evening when the first of his campaign commercials began airing on several local television stations.

"They are going to be everywhere," he said of what is purported to be a massive media buy.

The obvious question, of course, is 'Why now?' 'Why the month of March, when his party has yet to formally declare him its candidate?'

"In my view, if you want the nomination, you have to go out and make your intentions _ and the seriousness of those attentions - known," Frisa said in an interview with this newspaper last week.

"You've got to get out there and do it," he added.

Offering a preview of two of these spots to Anton Newspapers at the Harvest Diner in Westbury, Frisa spoke at length about what will surely be as thorny an issue this year as it was in 1996, his controversial vote to repeal the Federal Assault Weapons ban.

As his face filled the screen of a television set sitting atop a nearby diner table, Frisa explained that he attacks Congressman Charles Schumer in the spot because Schumer claims the ban has been effective, but that in reality, the ban has done nothing to take assault weapons off the street.

As he spoke, Frisa pulled two separate ads for gun shops from recent editions of Newsday. Both feature sales on Romanian AK-47 assault rifles.

"These advertisements aren't from two or three years ago, they are from last September and October," Frisa said. "So have we banned assault weapons? No, I think not. If you ask Schumer about this, he'll hedge, saying, "Well, we did ban high capacity clips.

"Well, take a good look at this ad," the former congressman continued.

"In one of the ads, directly below a picture of the AK-47, the small print states that this particular model accepts "all high capacity magazines and drums," the clear implication being that such clips are still available to be purchased.

"So you see, the assault weapons ban that people like Schumer have touted is fatally flawed," Frisa said. "The reason I became aware of this is, unlike many of my colleagues, I actually read the bill and saw exactly what the law did and did not do.

"Representing a district that had been scared by the Long Island Rail Road Massacre, I just couldn't sit idly by and allow my constituents to believe they were protected when in fact they were not. I think what we need in Washington is honest leadership that will achieve honest, meaningful results."

As in the past, Frisa is planning to run his campaign from the garage next to his Salisbury home. "It's such a do-it-yourself effort that I'm even laying down the floor and carpet in the garage between interviews and appearances and the like," he laughed.

Over the past several months Frisa has devoted a considerable amount of his time to rehabilitating his public image, an image that received a black eye when he was pitted against his eventual successor, current Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy two years ago.

"This time," he vows, "things are going to be different."

"For instance, look at these commercials," he said. "I don't see them as serving only an overt political agenda. For me, with these commercials, I'm availing myself of the opportunity to communicate with people in a very personal way - which is something I didn't do in 1996.

"In a sense, what I hope I'm doing is opening a new dialogue with the residents of this congressional district, a dialogue I should have had with my constituents a long time ago about things like the gun issue, about breast cancer legislation that Senator Alphonse D'Amato and I worked on together when I was in Congress, and about efforts I sponsored to help our disabled citizens."

Frisa said that in addition to the commercials, which will air in heavy rotation on several cable stations, he intends to begin walking door-to-door in the congressional district this week and begin making appearances at local train stations.

"It's a back-to-basics effort," he said. "I just want to get out there and begin chatting with folks about their concerns. At the same time, I also hope to say, 'Here are some issues, what do you think about them?' Frankly, I'm very excited about it."

Frisa said that in recent weeks a number of people have asked him about possibly running for his old seat.

"I'm certainly interested," he said. "But I want to know what the real people think."

The big question, however, is not whether the ads will improve Frisa's public image - they very likely will - but how the ads will play to the audience that matters most right now when it come to an "official" Frisa candidacy, the Republican leadership of the county.

"Will the party leaders be angry? Frisa asked, rephrasing a reporter's question. "I don't believe that they will. I hope that these spots will give us an opportunity to put our heads together and see how best to take the seat back.

"Keep in mind that these spots are not political," Frisa said for a second time. "We're talking about things that can only help the party."