This Alberta Libertarian Candidate Is Giving Away a Gun to Attract Campaign Donors

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Alberta has shed many of its stereotypes as of late. It's home to the progressive Mayor Naheed Nenshi and recently elected Canada's New Democratic Party to power. But just to prove the province is still occasionally worthy of its "Texas North" moniker, an Alberta Libertarian is offering donors the chance to win a semi-automatic rifle.

Cory Lystang, who is running in Yellowhead County, a rural area west of Edmonton, is giving away an AR-15 carbine to one lucky supporter. Anyone who throws down $15 toward Lystang's campaign (and is legally allowed to own a firearm) is eligible to win.

Lystang told reporters he knows "not everyone's going to accept the fact that I'm giving away a firearm." But, in a nod to the sound rationale used by the National Rifle Association every time there's a mass shooting south of the border, he claimed the giveaway, "brings up a great opportunity to have the conversation that it's not the firearm that's hurting anyone, it's the wrong people that have them."

Use of the AR-15, valued at $905, is restricted in Canada to a select few gun ranges, but it does have a sporting exception. It comes in numerous designs and was the gun the US military converted into the M-16 in the Vietnam War.

Lystang has raised $1,500 so far, which he's using to "get some (election) signs out there."

He said he cleared the plan with Elections Canada, and was told it didn't break any rules, though they'd never heard of a gun being raffled to voters before.

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