Gun giveaways are gaining steam among Republican candidates across the country and Colorado state Sen. Greg Brophy was no exception earlier this month when he was running for governor.
Supporters of Mr. Brophy were able to sign up for “Greg Brophy’s Gun Club Giveaway” in order to be entered to win a Smith & Wesson M&P15 rifle, the New York Times reported Thursday.
“I tricked this baby out with all the MagPul stuff you can add!” the Republican boasted, also listing all the modifications he made to the gun.
“Thousands of people” signed up for the raffle, Mr. Brophy told the Times. “It was awesome.”
The winner was a deputy in a county sheriff’s office, and he was able to take the gun home as soon as he passed a background check.
The National Rifle Association began giving away free guns years ago, and now it uses a range of social media campaigns to do so, while also gathering information from people’s profiles and their lists of friends. Millions of people have entered these contests, the NRA told the Times.
The practice isn’t new to Colorado either. Just last month, Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo, who made it onto the ballot last week, enlisted rocker and NRA member Ted Nugent to help him raffle off “a brand new AR-15.”
“Mark my words: We’ll keep our guns if Tom wins this race,” Mr. Nugent told supporters.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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