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A New Hampshire gun shop owner appeared on CNN Wednesday while holding an AR-15 rifle identical to the one he gave Donald Trump at a rally Tuesday night.
Mark Limoges, owner of Black Ops Arms, told CNN’s John Berman and Kate Bolduan, “This is an exact replica of the gun we gave Mr. Trump. It has our Black Ops Arms symbol on it with our Black Ops Arms symbol on the handrail. And the other side, we have the ‘Live Free or Die’ with the American flag on the handrail.”
The gun shop owner explained to the CNN hosts, “We’ve been big Trump supporters and wanted to do something to commemorate Mr. Trump’s visit.”
Limoges said he had hoped the billionaire candidate would be able to visit his store in Claremont in central New Hampshire, near the Vermont border, but the Secret Service was not keen on the idea. “A Secret Service agent came to the store, took the gun,” the retailer said. “We removed the bolt out of it. They took possession of the weapon and then presented it to us before we went into the room to present it to Mr. Trump” at the rally.
The store owner added that the AR-15 was given the serial number 145 for a very distinct reason. “He’s our No. 1 choice for president and we’re hoping he is going to be the 45th president so we gave him that serial number. We just thought it would be a nice gesture,” Limoges said.
The New Hampshire man indicated his store would be modifying the weapon so Trump can legally keep it at his home in New York City.
When asked by CNN what he thought of President Obama’s announced executive actions regarding gun control, Limoges expressed skepticism. “We’re all for safe gun sales transactions,” he said, but the problem “is not the people that come in legally and buy guns. It’s the people that do it illegally.”
“The system we have now with people coming in doing the background checks and everything seems to work fine. Could it be tweaked? I am sure it could be, but the process that’s there now seems to work fine,” he added.
Limoges also stated such actions by the president could be a “first step” in taking away peoples’ guns.
“The president said yesterday in his speech that his actions are not a plot to take away everybody’s guns,” co-host Kate Bolduan pointed out.
“Mr. Obama has also said other things that have not always been the truth,” Limoges responded, but conceded the president likely does not intend to totally ban gun ownership.
The shop owner reported to CNN that Obama’s pronouncements about guns have had the unintended consequence of spiking firearms sales. “Every time Mr. Obama has made an announcement like [Tuesday’s] we have definitely seen an increase in our business,” Limoges said. “People are definitely afraid about what Mr. Obama might do to take weapons away, so it’s been good for us.”
h/t: RawStory