Make a donation, win an assault rifle

By Laura Bohnert

One political candidate is causing a bit of a stir with his never-been-done-before campaign promotion.

Cory Lystang, Libertarian candidate for the Yellowhead riding, is trying out a new promotion to help raise funds for his campaign.  According to Lystang, anyone who donates to the campaign in the Yellowhead riding will be entered in a chance to win an AR-15, a semi-automatic assault rifle.

The AR-15 is the civilian version of the military M-16. It was originally manufactured to be a hunting rifle and was later adapted into the fully automatic assault rifle by the US military. The AR-15 is still made by several manufacturers; however, due to its resemblance to the M-16, the AR-15 is restricted in Canada. It can no longer be used for hunting but, due to its high accuracy, it is often used for target practice at ranges across Canada.

Because the rifle is restricted, anyone who owns an AR-15 must have a restricted firearms license, and he or she must inform his or her province’s Chief Firearms Officer every time the rifle is transported outside his or her home.

In order to win the rifle, the participant must be 18 or older, and must already have a restricted firearms license.

According to Elections Canada, the giveaway does not break any rules governing the elections campaign — just as long as Lystang discloses the value of the rifle, and as long as he properly reports the value of the donations after the election.

Individuals who meet the proper requirements can enter to win the semi-automatic rifle, valued at $1,200, with a $20 donation to Lystang’s Libertarian campaign in the Yellowhead riding.

According to Lystang, the giveaway offers his campaign an opportunity to discuss gun control: “I accept the idea that not everybody’s going to accept the fact that I’m giving away a firearm,” quotes Lystang, “but it also brings up a great opportunity to have the conversation that it’s not the firearm that’s hurting anyone, it’s the wrong people who have them.”

The promotion is also intended to help raise enough funds for the Libertarian riding to make up signs and otherwise participate in the more costly advertising components of the elections campaign.

While the promotion may strike a chord with hunters and firearm owners, promoting one of the party’s campaign beliefs as well as offering the potential to open up an important conversation about the restrictions on gun owners and whether those restrictions are actually functioning to prevent people who should not have weapons from using them in violent and dangerous displays, it may also be a clever campaign strategy — one meant to polarize voters enough to spread the controversial word and catch the votes of gun enthusiasts in a community that has a strong recreational hunting core.

Regardless, the AR-15 still seems like an interesting choice of weapon to use to achieve either or both aims. Not only does it bear a visual resemblance to the iconic military machine gun, carrying with it the anti-terrorism stigma of war and national defense, but it’s also the same type of gun that was used by Adam Lanza in 2012 to kill 27 people — mostly young children — at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and it’s also the same type of firearm James Holmes used to kill 12 people in a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado just months before.

Perhaps it is a strategic means of introducing an important discussion that simply isn’t being talked about enough, but it is also a perplexing stigma to attach to your campaign, and the Libertarian campaign especially. Using a weapon that embodies so much tragedy and devastation seems like a very odd way to promote a campaign that seeks to maximize the freedom of the individual– as long as he or she isn’t hurting anyone else.