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Thursday, Dec 20, 2012 4:17 PM UTC

North Carolina Tea Party group raffles off assault rifle

"We refuse to allow the Left and the Liberal mindset to once again hijack the conversation," the group says

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Topics: North Carolina, assault weapons ban, Guns, Tea Party, Newtown school shooting,

North Carolina Tea Party group raffles off assault rifle (Credit: Laborant via Shutterstock)

The Asheville Tea Party in North Carolina is raffling off two guns, an AR-15 assault rifle and a .22 magnum handgun, as part of its “Great Gun Giveaway,” apparently in response to talk of gun control by “the Left” in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shootings.

In a letter posted on its PAC website, the group defended itself for continuing with its “Great Gun Giveaway” (a follow-up to its “Machine Gun Social”): “We have given the Federal Government permission to disarm school officials by force of law and threat of imprisonment. They are now incapable of defending the children under their care. This is the reality. Does this not need to be changed?”

“We refuse to allow the Left and the Liberal mindset to once again hijack the conversation as they have and allow the political hacks to pass laws that continue to limit our inalienable right to protect ourselves and the most defenseless among us,” the group said.

Raffle tickets are $20 for the AR-15 (also the assault weapon used in the shootings), and $10 for the handgun, according to the flier for the raffle.

As Adam Peck from ThinkProgress points out, this particular Tea Party group has previously been seen “comparing President Obama to Hitler, sounding the alarm over the impending threat of Sharia law, and advocating for nullification, the thoroughly debunked and unconstitutional theory that a state can simply decide to ignore federal law within its borders.”

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Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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