A CAR DEALERSHIP in New Hampshire is offering a free AR-15 assault rifle with selected new car purchases.
The weapon is similar to the one used by Omar Mateen to kill 49 people at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Florida last Sunday.
According to local news outlet Fox25, Mike Hagan, owner of Hagan’s Motor Pool Auto Repair and Sales, said that a number of people have already accepted the offer.
Questioned if he was concerned that one of the rifles could potentially be used to kill innocent civilians, Hagan said:
I could worry about that same thing with a car being used to kill other people, in the end that kind of heinous crime is in the heart.
He stated that as part of the promotion he has partnered with a local gun store that carry out a background check on anyone receiving a weapon.
Hagan is a US military veteran who served during a tour of Afghanistan.
The military-style assault rifle being offered by Hagan as part of the promotion is similar to weapons used to carry out mass shootings in the United States in recent years.
These weapons were features of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012, the Aurora movie theatre massacre the same year and the Islamist-linked shooting in San Bernardino in December 2015.
“Those who defend the easy accessibility of assault weapons should meet these families and explain why that makes sense,” said President Barack Obama following the massacre in Orlando last week.
The Guardian is reporting that Hagan hasn’t returned calls on whether the offer came into effect before or after the Orlando massacre.
- Contains reporting from AFP.
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