Dean Allen: GOP Candidate Raffles Off AK-47 At South Carolina Campaign Rally Called "Machinegun Social" (VIDEO)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — A candidate to be South Carolina's next National Guard leader skipped the fiery speeches for firepower, launching his campaign with what he called a "machine-gun social."

The Greenville News reports some 500 people came out to a shooting range Saturday for Republican Dean Allen's political rally. He wants to be the next adjutant general, the person who leads the state's National Guard.

Attendees paid $25 for barbecue, a clip of bullets for target practice and the chance to win a semiautomatic AK-47. Whoever wins the rifle will have to undergo a background check.

Allen says he is an Army veteran who wanted to celebrate Second Amendment rights. South Carolina is the only state that elects its adjutant general.

Comments

[mackbolan]

whats a "spsers".....

[djcrsn]

greenrocks has her own unique vocabulary

[ceefee]

I live minutes away from Greenville, not altogether a bad town. Still, this is shameful South Carolina and Greenville is very much a part of it. An irony: it's against the law to hold a church raffle in SC, but if you're a politician and call it a barbeque with a free drawing for an AK47, well, that's perfectly OK!

Yes, yes, I know--why don't you leave? Plan to.

[Jadegold]

Meanwhile in Utah:

"A woman dies after being shot Sunday afternoon in the parking lot of a 7-11 in Springville. Police said the gun fell out of her car and discharged. Lt. Dave Caron of Springville Police said, "When they stopped at a 7-11, her husband opened the door for her to get in the car and when he did, a gun fell out, it hit the ground and went off."


This illustrates two points. First, SPSers often claim all gunowners are safe gun handlers. The SPSers will also rail against any proposal requiring gunowners to sucessfully complete any firearms safety training.

Second, this tragedy points up the lack of regulation in the design of firearms. The fact a gun can be dropped, causing it to discharge is unconscionable from an engineering perspective. It really isn't difficult or costly to design a firearm that won't discharge if dropped from a moderate height. The fact gun manufacturers won't incorporate such a fix highlights their irresponsibility. It also show many SPSers completely ignore safety because they don't demand these manufacturers make the needed modifications.

[OdinsEye]

"First, SPSers often claim all gunowners are safe gun handlers."

Incorrect. As are most of your claims.

"Second, this tragedy points up the lack of regulation in the design of firearms. The fact a gun can be dropped, causing it to discharge is unconscionable from an engineering perspective. "

Completely ignoring the loaded/safety status of the firearm in question, For all we know it was c0cked with the safety off and had it not been cocked or had the safety been on it might not have discharged. Further, if the firearm did discharge when not c0cked and with the safety on, then the manufacturer is liable in court. Additionally, SAAMI makes standards regarding such things and if the manufacturer failed to adhere to SAAMI standards, they could be in a world of hurt.

[legaleagle 45]

Odin wrote: "Completely ignoring the loaded/safety status of the firearm in question,"

It was a very old revolver which is no longer even produced. .. A Rohm model 66, 22 cal revolver.... no transfer bar or hammer lock.

[Jadegold]

Even Odin has claimed gunowners are all safe.

"Completely ignoring the loaded/safety status of the firearm in question,"

Doesn't matter.

Good engineering takes into account the product maybe misused or dropped or exposed to conditions it normally wouldn't be subjected to. As I sagely noted, it isn't hard to design in modifications which would make the product much more safe.

WRT SAAMI, I can only laugh. SAAMI is run by the NSSF; IOW, it's akin to auto safety standards be set by Ford.

[OdinsEye]

There is a reason why such firearms are carried hammer down on an empty cylinder. Had the owner known anything about their firearm, they would have known this.

[legaleagle 45]

I recall a somewhat similar fund raising activity several years back which was a real debacle....

The firearm which was up for grabs was one made by Smith and Wesson. The event was announced within days after Smith and Wesson entered into a consent decree which caved into the demands of some anti gun community... resulting in calls for boycotts against Smith and Wesson from the pro gun community.

Soooooo... what you had was the anti gun groups decrying the fact that a firearm was being raffled off, while the pro gun groups were equally upset because the firearm was a Smith and Wesson. Net result was the fund raiser fell flat on its face.

;-)

[OdinsEye]

A "clip of bullets"? Really AP? Two mistakes in one phrase is pretty comical.

[joependleton]

It's only comical if your life is guns.

[djcrsn]

Last time I checked--reporters were supposed to get their facts straight--including getting the terminology straight--just like teachers are supposed to deal with facts and not propaganda

[HisXLNC]

AP = anti-proof reading

[molonlabe]

I'm not sure what th ebig deal is.

The civilian version of the fully-automatic AK-47 functions similarily to any other semi-automatic long gun, and the 7.62x39 round it propels is must less powerful than most hunting cartridges used in the US.

Nothing but lefty talking points here. Move along.

[molonlabe]

I noticed that the article left out how many people were killed by "Dangerous Crossfire(tm)" and how many "The Children(tm)" were killed by these death machines...

What? No one was killed? You mean guns just don't magically jump off the table and start killing people by themselves??

Huh, who knew?!

[Rodger leMonde]

Damn Commy pop gun, what sort of a pinko is this creep. Just cuz they're proven reliable in adverse conditions don't make em patriotic, comrade.

[djcrsn]

LeMonde--nice bit of snark

[gladhart1]

What is in the water in South Carolina?

[BilaalUSA]

The AK-47 is Soviet fire arm, responsible for the death of more American troops than any other assault weapon in history. What happened to all the concern about “socialistic ideology” and “support our troops”.

[OdinsEye]

Though a USSR design, most AKs are actually built in China, though since the 80s, new ones sold in the US are US made.

[kerry1962]

How many people are at risk of someone breaking into their home and killing or assaulting them? This is a poor excuse for gun ownership - factually speaking. As for semi-automatic weapons - there is no reason for a citizen to own military hardware. Ask any urban cop what it feels like to go on a call where you know the fire power that may come your way is greater than your department issued hand gun. Give more fire power to the cops? We already have an armed militia. It's called the National Guard.

[TimnySlagle]

" there is no reason for a citizen to own military hardware."

That's what the British said at Lexington Concord.

And REAL Americans tend to disagree.

[BilaalUSA]

I recall Pallin describing "real America" back in 2008. Then I saw a telling graphic of on the election map. How's that working out for ya?

[d45]

I consider myself a "REAL" American and I disagree with you!

[Johnowen]

That was over 300 years ago. Things have changed a bit since then

[BigShotBob]

Of the 5,685,620 crimes of violence reported in the US in 2006, the largest proportion (20%, or over 1.1 million) occurred in or at the victim's home. Another 17.5% (just under 1 million) occurred just outside the victim's home. Whether it's a drunken lowlife beating his wife and kids, a drug deal gone wrong, a burglar surprised by a homeowner, or a serial stalker rapist, it all adds up to about 2 million crimes of violence every year in, at or very near the victim's home.

So, given a population of approximately 110 million households (in 2006), there is an approximately 18% chance that someone in your household will be the victim of a violent crime committed in your home. 18%. Each year.

All the police can do, in most cases, is help clean up the mess and (hopefully) catch the bad guy.

[Bompa]

More often than not... the "bad guy" is a member of the family or a small child that found the "protection" and shot a friend or sibling...­..........­.

[BigShotBob]

1.8%, not 18%. Stupid decimal points.

[FBatRNC]

Do you know the definition of semi-automatic? It only fires one bullet per trigger pull (just like all hunting rifles), it is NOT fully automatic. A fully automatic fires multiple rounds with one trigger pull. There is a big difference between the two.

1) Just about every hunting rifle is semi-automatic and shoots a more powerful round the the AK-47 or the AR-15. So would you also ban all semi-automatic hunting rifles?

2) All firearms are suitable for use in the military, not just the AK-47 or AR-15.

3) When you talk about cops going on call, they are afraid of what the criminals have, not the law abiding citizen. There is a big difference between legally and illegally owning a firearm, do not blur the distinction.

The number one reason for all of the illegal guns in the hands of criminals is the difference in state firearm laws. There is a hodgepodge of firearms laws and none of them are consistent from state to state. If we were able to mandate, on a federal level, background checks in every state it might just cut down on the "straw man" purchases.

[OdinsEye]

1 thru 3 are 100% correct.

Background checks are the law in all 50 states and have been for over a decade.

[sippewissett]

Thank you. There is a real discrepancy between the noise from the NRA about why ordinary citizens need guns for protection and what is actually being sold. You don't need an AK-47 to aim at a burglar and you don't need one to shoot game. AK-47s are for killing multiple people in wars.

We are over-armed as a nation. Note the following" "For every 100 people in the U.S., there are 90 guns, according to a recent study. This statistic makes the U.S. the most heavily armed country on the planet. India comes in second, with four guns per 100 people, and China is third, with three guns per 100 people."

[djcrsn]

Who decides the correct number of firearms for someone to own? In my book--it is that individual--and sip, people use different guns for different purposes ranging from self defense to hunting to target, they can definitely pick up a large collection (especially if they hunt quail to geese and prairie dogs to moose and bison in a variety of conditions)

[djcrsn]

need has nothing to do with how a person chooses to exercise a right--and in term of legit usage of semiauto AKs--since I have survived the Rodney King riots here in Los ANgeles--ARs, AKs, SKSs and mini14s and 30s all have a very real role when the fit hits the shan

[BigShotBob]

The "recent study" is the Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies' Small Arms Survey 2007. I suggest you read it, because your quote fails to put the actual data in the proper context: ranking countries by total number of guns owned by civilians, and NOT by per capita ownership.

Yes, the US is the most heavily armed nation in the world, at 90 guns for every 100 people. But Yemen, for example, has 61 guns per 100 people, and Switzerland has 46.

[OdinsEye]

"AK-47s are for killing multiple people in wars. "

You are thinking of the military, full-auto AK, not the civilian semi-auto AK.

[OdinsEye]

BTW, the semi-auto AK is a good home defense firearm and with a restricted magazine (IAW state laws) is a decent deer rifle and also good for medium sized animals.

[HisXLNC]

"there is no reason for a citizen to own military hardware."

Then there is no reason for a citizen to own any firearm, as nearly every firearm is derived from a military firearm.

[ContraEgoiste]

How many have seen photos from the Midle East, with all those backwards radical extremists clutching their guns tighter than a woman, waiving them above their heads or firing them??

hmmmmm, now what would bring that to mind??

[freddiefreeloader]

Right-wing extremist wanna-bes who never were or never will be. just go to the supermarket, their the ones at the magazine rack reading the solder of fortune magazine.

[BigShotBob]

Huh. South Carolina is the only state where the Adjutant General is elected, rather than appointed. You learn something new every day. Still, probably should have shelled out another $300-$400 for an M4.

[Billar]

What a piece of work this guy is.