Gun Appreciation Day Sponsored By American Third Position, White Supremacist Group

Controversial Pro-Gun Celebration Has Ties To White Supremacist Group
Hand guns are seen for sale at Capitol City Arms Supply Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 in Springfield, Ill. President Barack Obama launched the most sweeping effort to curb U.S. gun violence in nearly two decades, announcing a $500 million package that sets up a fight with Congress over bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines just a month after a shooting in Connecticut killed 20 school children. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
Hand guns are seen for sale at Capitol City Arms Supply Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 in Springfield, Ill. President Barack Obama launched the most sweeping effort to curb U.S. gun violence in nearly two decades, announcing a $500 million package that sets up a fight with Congress over bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines just a month after a shooting in Connecticut killed 20 school children. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

Firearms enthusiasts around the country are being encouraged to head down to their local gun shops on Saturday, constitutions and American flags in hand, to send a message to President Barack Obama about Second Amendment rights -- and, of course, to buy more guns.

The event is being billed as Gun Appreciation Day and has backing from white supremacist group American Third Position (A3P), Media Matters reported on Friday.

A3P, which is listed on the Gun Appreciation Day website as a sponsor, does little through its own content to veil the fact that the political movement is dedicated to white supremacy.

In its mission statement, A3P writes that it "believes that government policy in the United States discriminates against white Americans, the majority population, and that white Americans need their own political party to fight this discrimination."

It goes on, saying that the group aims to "stop the immigrant invasion" in order to put "America first!"

In an email to The Huffington Post last year, A3P's chairman candidly admitted to his white nationalism, saying that he found it a "just and proper position for all white people to hold."

Gun Appreciation Day has raised some eyebrows for reasons apart from its questionable ties. The event's founder, Larry Ward has rejected claims that he's an extremist, but earlier this week he sparked outrage when he suggested that slavery could have been prevented in the United States if African Americans were allowed to carry guns.

"I think Martin Luther King, Jr. would agree with me if he were alive today that if African Americans had been given the right to keep and bear arms from day one of the country’s founding, perhaps slavery might not have been a chapter in our history," Ward said.

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