CAIR: Crusader Rifle A ‘Shameful Marketing Ploy’ Promoting ‘Hatred, Division, Violence’

On September 2, Breitbart News reported on Spike’s Tactical’s Crusader Rifle — a rifle etched with a Bible verse and a cross in hopes of keeping Muslim terrorists from handling or using the weapon.

On September 3, the Huffington Post reported that the Florida chapter of the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) described the rifle as “shameful marketing ploy” that would only stir “hatred, division, [and] violence.”

CAIR also claimed that have been “250 mass shootings” in American in 2015 alone, only one of which they credit to a Muslim gunman.

There haven’t been 250 mass shootings this year. In fact, a recent study by the University of Alabama’s Mark Lankford shows there were only 90 mass shootings throughout the entire 46 years spanning 1966 to 2012. And the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a July 30 CRS study showing America averaged “4.4 mass public shootings” a year between the years 1999 and 2013 — a figure that was elevated because of a higher number of attacks in 2012.

But those claiming a mass shooting a day are not really concerned about facts. Rather, they are concerned with making a point. In this case, CAIR is concerned with having an elevated number of mass shootings so the number of shootings that involved a Muslim gunman can be represented as a smaller fraction of the overall figure. And quoting such a figure helps them distract from the key issue, which is the Crusader rifle.

The words of Psalm 144:1 — ”Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle” — are etched upon the right side of the rifle’s lower, while a cross and shield are etched upon the left side. And along the AR-15’s safety lever are the Latin words “Pax Pacis” (Peace), “Bellum” (War), and “Deus Vult” (God Wills It). Peace is the gun’s safe position while “War” is the gun’s fire position.

WTSP 10 News quoted Spike’s Tactical spokesman Ben “Mookie” Thomas explaining why the company decided to create the Crusader:

Right now and as it has been for quite some time, one of the biggest threats in the world is and remains Islamic terrorism. We wanted to make sure we built a weapon that would never be able to be used by Muslim terrorists to kill innocent people or advance their radical agenda.

CAIR’s response: “This is just another shameful marketing ploy intended to profit from the promotion of hatred, division and violence.”

It should be noted that CAIR filed a suit against Florida Gun Supply after that store’s owner, Andy Hallinan, announced that his store would be a “Muslim free zone” following Muslim immigrant Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez’s July 16 terrorist attack on U.S. military personnel in Chattanooga.

CAIR responded to Hallinan’s decision by saying: “Such discrimination is not only illegal, it is bad for our country and makes us less safe and less free.”

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.