A Florida weapons manufacturer has produced an assault rifle “designed never to be used by Muslim terrorists.” The rifle is embossed with biblical verses and a Christian cross.
“When you make a rifle, you have to understand that it could be used for ill deeds if it got in the right hands,” explained Ben Thomas, Brand ambassador for Florida Weapons manufacturer Spike’s Tactical.
His company came up with the innovative solution as the Obama administration was preparing to send weapons to arm moderate rebel groups in Syria – weapons that could easily fall into terrorist hands in the complex, sectarian conflict.
The Spike’s Tactical Crusader is a lightweight mid-length rifle etched with a Knights Templar Long Cross on one side, and Psalm 144:1 on the other: “Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”
The safety selector that controls the Crusader’s trigger has three settings: Peace, War and God Wills It.
Thompson, a former US Navy Seal, told the Orlando Sentinel how he conceived of the project: “I had just been watching the news that morning, as ISIS was murdering innocent people. And particularly, they were using American made and American purchased weapons,” he said.
“I was furious,” he continued, “and off the cuff I just said, ‘I’d like a gun, that if a Muslim terrorist pick it up a bolt of lightening would just hit them and knock them dead.’” He said he believed the inscription would deter dangerous and committed extremists from using his weapons to further terrorist ends.
Thompson was aware of the negative way his potentially effective solution could be spun by the media: “It was very difficult to put this together in a way that doesn’t come across as bigoted,” he said. Adding: “We have friends who are Muslims, I’ve lived in the Middle East – most Muslims are good people!”
“Globally, Islamic terror is the terror that has gripped the world,” he said, explaining that fighting it was “dear to my heart and our corporation” because of “our our ties to the military and those who have served [in the Middle East] in those conflicts.”
Spike’s Tactical was “speaking out against” Islamic terror and the new gun was to show his company is “aware of it, and [are] going to do what [they] can about it.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Florida was less than impressed. They said in a statement to FOX 35: “Sadly, this manufacturer’s fancy new gun won’t do anything to stop the real threat in America: the escalating problem of gun violence.
“This is just another shameful marketing ploy intended to profit from the promotion of hatred, division, and violence.”
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