Who Approved This Giveaway…? July 13, 2008

Who Approved This Giveaway…?

By Guest Contributor
July 13, 2008

You would think someone in the church would have said, “This could turn bad… very bad. Let’s not do it.”

Instead, the plan went on as scheduled. It was stopped only when an instructor injured his foot and couldn’t attend:

An Oklahoma church canceled plans for a gun giveaway Friday at its annual youth conference, a local news station reported.

The church’s youth pastor, Bob Ross, said the AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle was a means of luring young people as far away as Canada…

I guess it’s too bad they had to cancel.

Jesus would’ve been proud…?

jesusgun.jpg



[tags]atheist, atheism, Windsor Hills Baptist Church[/tags]
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  • Almost the definition of “clinging to God and guns.”

  • Ron in Houston

    Yep, Praise God and pass the ammunition.

  • What’s wrong with this giveaway? Afternoons at the range are great activities for social groups, whether they’re churches or sporting clubs.

    The AR-15 is a great rifle to raffle off. Accurate, pricey, but not prohibitively expensive and it fires pretty common ammunition (.226, the same thing the M-16 fires).

  • Lee

    It’s not so crazy if you understand the social climate these things arise in. I grew up involved in a church in East Texas, which is very religious, and people don’t think of guns the same way here. To a lot of people, giving away a gun is just the same as giving away a gift card or a car or something. I’m not saying that it should be taken so lightly, but it’s not that unusual or outrageous in a place like Oklahoma.

  • @Lee: Heck, I grew up in upstate NY. Lots of shooting clubs in that area. I had my graduation party at a gun club (not to use the range- they also had good BBQ facilities).

  • Atheist Okie

    I’d like to have won this. I’m in law enforcement and my department was recently trained with the Bushnell XM15 for situations like active shooters at schools and such. Some of the guys spent the $1500 for one, but I woudn’t waste that kind of money on something the department will provide.

    It would have been awesome to have bought a raffle and won….as an atheist.

  • This would not work here in California. Assault style rifles are against the law. A good shotgun might work as a substitute. .

    Seriously – this is a throwback to the 50s.

  • Shane

    @Atheist Okie

    I would have liked to win it too, but I don’t think you would like it compared to the XM-15. The XM-15 is a really nice precision rifle with a heavy stainless barrel, and the church just had a common AR-15 ($800 versus $1500).

    But I really don’t think it’s that extraordinary to be raffling off a gun–not worthy of a news story. And to be fair it is not really an “assault rifle”–one of the defining characteristics of an assault rifle is full auto fire. This was just an “assault style” gun.

    @t3knomanser: it’s actually .223 Win or 5.56 x 45mm NATO, but it is fairly common and cheap given how much is produced for the US Army–economies of scale. I actually want to get a gun in that calibre–light recoil (designed for full auto fire), relatively cheap, but big enough for any predators on the farm here in Saskatchewan (unless, of course, you head too far north and meet a bear…).

  • Canadian Atheist

    I want to know what’s wrong with those Canadians!

  • As someone involved in church ministry with youth, I’m honestly confused at their thought process. It kind of sends a mixed message when we say, “love your enemies and take care of the poor; now here’s an $800 assault rifle.”

    Also, I love that the youth pastor is Bob Ross. I miss his painting TV shows.

  • Darryl

    What would Jesus shoot?

  • Wes

    I think it’s a great idea! I mean, what could possibly go wrong in mixing high-powered guns with fundamentalist religious indoctrination? Hell, the fact that my parents live only a few miles from that church, in a city that has already been attacked once before by a militant right wing lunatic who killed 168 people, makes me feel very safe indeed. We sure as hell won’t have to worry about atrocities like cracker desecration here in Oklahoma. No-sir-ee bob.

    The other day a friend of mine was chastising me for being so cynical all the time. I’m gonna send him this story. Hopefully now he’ll understand.

  • cipher

    Oklahoma. ‘Nuff said.

  • This is saddening that some Christians just don’t get Christ. In Matthew 26:52 he said, “Put your sword back in its place … for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” They should pay closer attention to scripture.

  • Obviously the solution here is to arm the non-religious. That way when civil war breaks out it’s not an all-out slaughter.

    I mean, it still would be an all-out slaughter, but at least we’d have a fighting chance.

  • Veig

    Hey, to what lengths would you go to get guns into the hands of children ?

    http://gizmodo.com/338916/hello-kitty-expands-upon-arsenal-with-ar+15-rifle