Posted on 03/29/2013 12:09:47 AM PDT by neverdem
A former mayoral candidate in Tucson, Ariz., is drawing heated criticism from Democrats after he launched a program this week to hand out free shotguns in high-crime neighborhoods.
Shaun McClusky, who kicked off the program Monday, financed it with initial donor commitments of $12,000. He told FoxNews.com that with those private donations alone, he can arm and train 36 people -- and hopes to begin that process in 60 days.
McClusky said he's already received more than a dozen responses from residents, "none of them negative, all of them positive."
But with McClusky launching the gun handout program in the same area where former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in 2011, he's running into stiff resistance from Arizona officials.
State Rep. Victoria Steele, who represents Tucson, called the program "plain lunacy."
"Arizonans in Tucson and across the state are demanding that we reduce gun violence and create safer communities. Handing out shotguns is not a solution," she said in a written statement.
House Minority Leader Chad Campbell called it "ideological extremism at its worst" and "a political gimmick that could have dangerous consequences." The program, though, is actually the brainchild of a master's student at the University of Houston. The student, Kyle Coplen, launched what he calls the Armed Citizen Project, a nonprofit that is handing out "defensive shotguns" for free in certain neighborhoods of Houston and studying the effect on crime rates.
Reached Thursday, Coplen said it's too early to tell whether there is an effect -- but he said he intends to expand the program to 15 cities by the end of the year. Right now, the program is only in Houston and Tucson, with McClusky's help.
"His idea's great," McClusky said Thursday. "So I took his idea and I ran with it here in Tucson."
McClusky said...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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