Spike’s Tactical, a Florida-based company, launched a new assault weapon. The rifle includes Christian symbols including the cross of the Knights Templar.
The new Christian assault rifle, called the Crusader , includes the symbols of the well-known Catholic order. A spokesperson for the manufacturer says the symbols should deter Muslim terrorists from purchasing it.
The company said that it wanted to ensure that the weapons it built would never “be able to be used by Muslim terrorists to kill innocent people.”
The rifle also includes a verse from the Christian Bible.
Civil liberties organizations have criticized Spike’s Tactical for the rifle. The Council on America-Islamic Relations criticized the manufacturer. It said the gun promotes hatred and violence for the company’s own gain.
The fears of Islamist violence shared by the weapons manufacturer are also not based in reality. Right wing violence has resulted in many more victims in the United States than Islamic terrorist attacks since the year 2001.
Upon launch, the rifle sold out of stock within 72 hours. While the company declined to provide the exact figure sold, it says that there is a waiting list of several weeks for the purchase of the rifle.
Despite the backlash from civilian groups over the Christian assault rifle, Ben Thomas, the spokesman for Spike’s Tactical, insists that he would “like to have a gun that if a Muslim terrorist picked it up a bolt of lightning would hit and knock him dead.”
In addition to the Christian symbols, the rifle also has three safety settings: “War,” “Peace,” and “God Wills It.”
[Photo By: Chris Hondros/Getty Images News]
