Arizona gun club offers photos with Santa

The Associated Press is reporting that an Arizona gun club is offering a chance for children and their families to pose for photos with Santa while holding pistols and military-style rifles.

From the article:

One image shows Santa in a wingback chair with a snowflake background, a Christmas tree behind him and flanked by an $80,000 machine gun and a tripod-mounted rifle. Next to Santa is a man standing behind a boy, who is holding an unloaded AR-15 with an attached grenade launcher.

In another photo, Santa cradles a toddler dressed in camouflage, while a man and woman stand close by with rifles with foldable stocks. In yet another image, five beaming young ladies pose with AR-15, an AK-47 variant and other rifles as they surround old Saint Nick.

Ron Kennedy, general manager of the Scottsdale Gun Club, told the AP the business got the idea for the photo op last year when a club member happened to come in dressed as Santa and other members wanted their picture taken while they were holding their guns.

"Our customers have been looking for a fun and safe way to express their holiday spirit and passion for firearms," said Kennedy, noting people have used the photos for Christmas cards and Facebook posts. About 500 people showed up to the event Saturday to take a total of 150 photos when the first of two such events was launched.

Kennedy, whose club offers guns for sale and rental and has a 32-lane indoor shooting range, said the event wasn't aimed at children, but the club supports the right of parents to include their children in the photos and believes that's a personal choice.

Kennedy told the AP the guns used in the photos aren't loaded and have had their firing pins removed, and their chambers are regularly cleared to ensure safety.

Democratic state Rep. Steve Farley, who proposed an unsuccessful ban on large-capacity gun magazines like the one used in the Jan. 8 mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six people and wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others, is quoted as saying the gun club's photo op was inappropriate.

"To involve machine guns and Santa in a celebration in the birth of Jesus Christ is the worst kind of heresy I can imagine," said Farley. "I would suggest that the people who created this read some of the New Testament."

Those who take Farley's advice, after reading about the birth of Jesus in the early chapters of Luke, are likely to come across the words of Jesus himself, on the eve of his crucifixion, when he instructed his disciples to purchase and carry sidearms (Luke 22:35-38).

For his part, Kennedy told the AP the club is simply trying to provide a safe holiday event that's an expression of their passions. "It's more of a celebration of their Second Amendment rights," Kennedy said, adding that the club will continue holding the events in future years if there's a demand from customers for it.

Additional Information:
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