Candidate offering chance to win a gun
By Yvonne Wenger
COLUMBIA -- Page One in Dean Allen's playbook "How to win public office in South Carolina": Give away a big gun.
Page Two: Get your buddies together at the shooting range and throw a party.
Unconventional? Yes, but Allen, of Greenville, is grabbing attention for a little-known statewide office, adjutant general.
The adjutant general is in charge of the South Carolina's Army and Air National Guard, serves on the board of visitors for The Citadel and holds many other related responsibilities.
Maj. Gen. Stan Spears, a Republican, holds the position, but he hasn't said publicly whether he'll seek another term. He has held the job since 1995.
Allen, also a Republican, will hold his "Machinegun Social" fundraiser from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 26 at Allen Arms Indoor Range, 1210 Poinsett Highway in Greenville. Allen is a combat veteran who served in Korea and Vietnam.
The campaign will give away a $700 semi-automatic AK-47 after the event. To get a chance to win the gun, sign up for the free giveaway by filling out an entry form at Allen Arms (the owner is no relation to the candidate).
Entrants must be residents of South Carolina and meet all the legal requirements necessary to own a gun but don't need to attend the fundraiser.
"This event is all about celebrating our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms," Allen said in a statement. "We are celebrating these rights in the hopes the liberals in this country never get the chance to take our Second Amendment rights away from us."
Tickets to the Machinegun Social are $25.
Clemson University political science professor David Woodard said the idea for the AK-47 giveaway was original.
"It sounds like something out of Huey Long's Louisiana," he said.
Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-799-9051 or ywenger@postandcourier.com.
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