Church cancels teen gun giveaway

[Ender]

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An Oklahoma church canceled a controversial gun giveaway for teenagers at a weekend youth conference.

Windsor Hills Baptist had planned to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle until one of the event's organizers was unable to attend.

The church’s youth pastor, Bob Ross, said it’s a way of trying to encourage young people to attend the event. The church expected hundreds of teenagers from as far away as Canada.

“We have 21 hours of preaching and teaching throughout the week,” Ross said.

A video on the church Web site shows the shooting competition from last year’s conference. A gun giveaway was part of the event last year. This year, organizers included it in their marketing.

“I don’t want people thinking ‘My goodness, we’re putting a weapon in the hand of somebody that doesn’t respect it who are then going to go out and kill,'” said Ross. “That’s not at all what we’re trying to do.”

Ross said the conference isn’t all about guns, but rather about teens finding faith.

“You make a lot of new friends down here,” said Vikki Goncharenko, who attended the conference. “You get to meet new people. There's a bunch of things that are going on. It's just, you have a wonderful time.”

Friday evening, Ross said the gun giveaway had been canceled. Pastor emeritus Jim Vineyard, who ran the event, injured his foot and wouldn’t be able to attend. The gun giveaway was also removed from the church Web site.

Ross said the church would give the gun away next year instead. He said the church spent $800 buying the gun for the promotion.

Gosh, what a shame. They won't be filling the kids heads with fundamentalist christianity and then arming them this year.

[Darth Wong]

This is the kind of story that you could post with no location information at all, and people would immediately guess it must have come from some small town in America.

[FSTargetDrone]

Whatever one's feeling are about guns, there is something unseemly about a church spending $800 on a gun. How about $800 spent on a computer? Books? To start a tuition fund?

[Gil Hamilton]

Well, giving away a gun at a church rally is what Jesus would have wanted...

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Wait, how did the church get around federal rules regarding guns? I thought you can't exactly even "give" them away without a license?

[Kanastrous]

Whatever one's feeling are about guns, there is something unseemly about a church spending $800 on a gun. How about $800 spent on a computer? Books? To start a tuition fund?

I'd rather they spend the money on guns, than tools to further disseminate their religion.

[Kanastrous]

Wait, how did the church get around federal rules regarding guns? I thought you can't exactly even "give" them away without a license?

Frequently the weapon is held by a licensed FFL dealer, or the person who purchased it on the church's behalf can take it to an FFL holder along with the winner, and have a private-party transfer filed.

You can give away guns all day long and into the night, so long as the transfers are done in compliance with DOJ/BATF requirements.

[Glocksman]

Wait, how did the church get around federal rules regarding guns? I thought you can't exactly even "give" them away without a license?

Frequently the weapon is held by a licensed FFL dealer, or the person who purchased it on the church's behalf can take it to an FFL holder along with the winner, and have a private-party transfer filed.

You can give away guns all day long and into the night, so long as the transfers are done in compliance with DOJ/BATF requirements.

Since it's an organization giving it away as a promotion I'm certain that an FFL holder has the actual gun in his possession and that the 'winner' would have to have had one of their parents go and complete the actual paperwork and pass the NICS check.

It *may* be legal as a simple private party transfer, but since the odds are good that the winner would be an out of state resident I'd bet money an FFL is handling it.

$800 for a 'semiautomatic assault rifle'?
It's probably an AR variant, though Arsenal in Bulgaria makes some sweet AK's in that price range.

[Patrick Degan]

Whatever one's feeling are about guns, there is something unseemly about a church spending $800 on a gun. How about $800 spent on a computer? Books? To start a tuition fund?

Oh no, we can't have that. Edjumacation just might fill young minds with ideas straight from Satan!

[Phantasee]

The dude who couldn't show up was probably the FFL.

[FSTargetDrone]

Too bad the guy who "injured his foot" hadn't done so "during an unrelated shooting accident."

[Darth Raptor]

Whatever one's feeling are about guns, there is something unseemly about a church spending $800 on a gun. How about $800 spent on a computer? Books? To start a tuition fund?

You can't fight the UN with computers and books.

[Glocksman]

Whatever one's feeling are about guns, there is something unseemly about a church spending $800 on a gun. How about $800 spent on a computer? Books? To start a tuition fund?

Or why not take that $800 and buy a nice .22LR rifle for around $250 or so, a $200 bookstore gift card, and an Asus EEE?

The gun nuts get their (really much more appropriate for youth IMHO) gun, and the people who'd rather have books or a computer get what they want.

[Kanastrous]

It *may* be legal as a simple private party transfer, but since the odds are good that the winner would be an out of state resident I'd bet money an FFL is handling it.

The private-party transfer still has to go through an FFL holder, so, yes.

$800 for a 'semiautomatic assault rifle'?
It's probably an AR variant, though Arsenal in Bulgaria makes some sweet AK's in that price range.

I have an SLR-95. It's a very satisfactory rifle. My only complaints are the inadequate heat shielding on the forend and the sort of cheap black finish which doesn't do justice to the quality of the rifle's construction. Though they were going for about US$500, when I picked mine up.

[Glocksman]

MSRP for their current milled guns are in the $1000 range.
I handled one at a gun show and it felt solid as a rock and the fit and finish were light years ahead of my cheap Century Arms Romanian AK.

As for the FFL issue, my understanding of the law is that private party intrastate transfers of both pistols and long guns don't have to go through an FFL unless local or state law requires it, and that all long gun interstate transfers have to go through an FFL and the gun has to be legal in the transferee's state.
Pistol interstate transfers have to be made from the dealer you're buying the gun from to an FFL in your state of residence, who then does all of the paperwork and NICS check.


IOW, if the lucky AR winner lived in Indiana he'd have his gun.
If he lived in a state that prohibited 'assault weapons', he's fucked.

My state's laws don't require private party sales to go through an FFL, but when I sell a pistol I do so anyway just to cover my ass.

[Sidewinder]

What kind of moron thinks it's a good idea to just give a firearm (a semiautomatic rifle, no less!) to a teenager? What, they don't think the US had enough school shootings this year?

Ross said the church would give the gun away next year instead. He said the church spent $800 buying the gun for the promotion.

Wouldn't this money be better spent on a SCHOLARSHIP? I know $800 wouldn't pay for much in college, but a student will still find it more helpful than a fucking rifle.

[Gandalf]

What kind of moron thinks it's a good idea to just give a firearm (a semiautomatic rifle, no less!) to a teenager? What, they don't think the US had enough school shootings this year?

You don't remember people saying that if more students were armed, massacres like the one at Virginia Tech would decrease?

[American Infidel]

You don't remember people saying that if more students were armed, massacres like the one at Virginia Tech would decrease?

What a ridiculous suggestion indeed. The real solution is to put bigger "Gun Free School" stickers up everywhere, obviously. Working great so far!