Here's one store where it pays not to be an atheist.
In the aftermath of the recent mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, a gun store owner in Kingston, Tennessee, is offering a 5 percent discount to anyone who purchases a new firearm -- with the apparent caveat that the buyer states his or her religion.
The discount at Frontier Firearms applies to people who state their religion -- or any religion -- at the time of purchase. A recent Facebook ad promoting the deal gave the impression that it would only be available to people who say "I'm a Christian." But the store owner, Brant Williams, told The Huffington Post on Tuesday that the discount isn't specific to any one faith.
"If someone walks into the store and says, 'I'm not a Christian, but I saw your ad,' we'll give them the discount anyway," Williams said, adding that his business has never discriminated against anyone representing any religion.
Williams had sounded a bit less inclusive last week, when he told Knoxville's WVLT that "if Christians are going to be targeted, we need to protect ourselves."
The Frontier Firearms promotion is a response to reports that Christopher Harper-Mercer, the gunman in the UCC slayings, had asked at least some of his victims about their religion before shooting them. According to some accounts, Harper-Mercer appeared to be targeting Christians specifically, but other witnesses say he was shooting people no matter how they answered the question.
Despite the conflicting reports, Williams firmly believes the Oregon shooting was religiously motivated, as does Eric Parish, Frontier Firearms' vice president.
“I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, or Republican, an Independent, the Green Party, I don’t care what party you’re with. But to say that that shooting right there had nothing to do with religion is ludicrous,” Parish told The Daily Beast in an article published Tuesday. “What if someone had done the same thing and they only shot them if they were Muslim? Would the President react differently?”
Harper-Mercer killed nine people and injured nine others before taking his own life, according to reports.
An ad posted Oct. 5 on Frontier Firearms' Facebook page reads "Save 5% off any new handgun by saying, 'I'm a Christian.'" It also features an image of Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R), who recently urged Christians to consider getting handgun permits in the wake of the UCC shooting.
The ad has attracted backlash, but Williams said the criticism is misguided. He told HuffPost that his original intention was to create an opportunity for people to reap rewards for declaring their Christian faith, in contrast to what supposedly happened in Oregon.
"If [the shooter] asked me next, what would I say? Would I say, 'I'm a Christian?' I hope I would, but I don't know," Williams said. "I am a Christian, but would I have the courage to say that?"
Since the promotion began, Frontier Firearms has seen an increase in sales, but Williams said it's not clear whether that's a result of the discount or a reaction to President Barack Obama's latest remarks on the need for gun control. Such statements occasionally result in sales upticks, Williams said. In any case, he is satisfied with the outcome.
"The blessing I've experienced is that people come into the store and say 'I'm a Christian' and we talk about our faith," he told HuffPost, adding that he would welcome having such conversations with people of any religion.
As a result of the promotion's success, the sale will continue indefinitely.
Whatever can be said about Williams' approach, it's not the most truculent behavior from a weapons seller this year. Last month, Andrew Hallinan, a firearms dealer in Florida who had previously declared his store a "Muslim-free zone," began offering $25 off purchases to people who used the coupon code "Muslim." Hallinan -- who also sells Confederate flag paintings by George Zimmerman, the Florida man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen, in 2012 -- is facing a lawsuit for discriminatory business practices.