(KTNV) — A church in Tennessee is making headlines for giving away an AR-15 during its Fourth of July raffle.
The River of Tri-Cities Church in Johnson City said in a Facebook post it decided to raffle off the semi-automatic weapon "in celebration of our nation’s Independence Day and in deep appreciation of our 2nd Amendment rights as Americans."
On its Facebook page, the church stated: "We do nothing secretly at The River of Tri-Cities because we do nothing illegal, immoral or unethical, that is why we are announcing this publicly. We understand, at the same time, that there could be some who may be uncomfortable with our stance of action on American Constitutional Liberties. Many of those same people would be uncomfortable with our form of worship as well. We are uncomfortable with their stance on liberty and their forms of worship. Thankfully, we can still peacefully dwell together in our great nation, respecting one another’s rights. The United States of America is a Constitutional Republic, not a Democracy, which allows this to happen and keeps the rule of the majority mindset from controlling everything, no matter what color your state may lean, red or blue."
The church handed out the AR-15 to a woman named Kelsey, posting a photo of the happy winner to the church's Facebook page.
Kelsey will need to prove she is of legal age, is legally allowed to possess a firearm and she must pass a background check.
The announcement was made at the end of the church's Sunday services. You can see the announcement in the video below.
