Pittsburgh gun shop owner gives away assault rifle and 1000 rounds of ammo to protest Obama

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A gun shop owner in Pittsburgh is protesting President Barack Obama’s gun safety proposals by giving away an AR-15 assault rifle and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. According to Pittsburgh’s KDKA 1020 AM, citizens need to be armed with the high caliber weaponry as a means to “defend themselves against a tyrannical government.”

Pittsburgh Tactical Firearms store owner Eric Lowry is giving the gun and ammunition away along with 30 high-capacity magazines through his company’s Facebook page. The shop sells an array of weapons from sidearms to police and military weaponry and offers classes in survival and defense.

Lowry told KDKA’s Larry Richert Wednesday morning that he believes there should be no restrictions whatsoever on the kinds of weapons American citizens can own.

“It’s your Second Amendment right to own a gun, no matter what kind of firearm it is,” he said.

And while he did draw the line at “tanks and nuclear weapons,” Lowry said, “Citizens should be armed well enough to defend themselves  against a tyrannical government in which case they should be able to own the same kind of firearms that any military soldier should be able to own.”

Lowry reported that sales at his shop have jumped in the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

“Two days after the shooting, we sold 95 percent of our stock out,” says Lowry.

A group of celebrities and entertainers including singer Tony Bennett, comic Chris Rock and actress Amanda Peet spoke out on Wednesday in support of President Obama. They were joined by survivors of gun violence and families of its victims, who called for greater controls on access to assault weapons and universal background checks for gun buyers.