A planned Republican fund-raiser in New Hampshire aims to promote gun ownership in the United States by letting supporters fire powerful military-style weapons — from Uzi submachine guns to M-16 rifles.
The Manchester Republican Committee is inviting party members and their families to a ”Machine Gun Shoot” where, for $25, supporters can spend a day trying out automatic weapons, said organiser Jerry Thibodeau.
”It’s a fun day. It’s a family day,” said Thibodeau of the August 5 event. ”It’s quite exciting.”
Local Democrats say the event is in poor taste amid a spike in violent crime in Manchester and seeks to glorify the use of machine guns for political gain. The right to own guns has come under heightened scrutiny since the April shooting at Virginia Tech where a gunman killed 32 people.
”It is downright offensive,” Chris Pappas, the Manchester Democratic party chairperson, told the Union Leader newspaper. – Reuters