Santa Claus is comin' to town -- and he's packing some serious firepower.
A Georgia firing range is offering free photos with Santa this weekend, with an ad showing what can only be described as a nontraditional Kriss Kringle. But it's probably not the sunglasses or the Santa hoodie that most stand out. It's the fact that this Santa is armed to the holly:
It seems Santa won't actually be the one exercising his Second Amendment rights at the Sandy Springs Gun Club and Range in Sandy Springs on Saturday. It's the guests, who will be able to hold either an AK-47, AR-15 or FN-SCAR-17 while posing with Father Christmas, according to WSB-TV in Atlanta.
In exchange for the photos, the range is asking people to bring food items to help the local Community Assistance Center, a local United Way agency that provides food, clothing and shelter to the needy.
"Any time we have an opportunity to do something fun with our patrons and give back to the community... any time we can combine the two, we get really excited," Robyn Marzullo, co-owner of the range, told the New York Daily News.
The range has taken steps to ensure safety, saying the guns have been "inspected, unloaded and deactivated" and that people will not be allowed to use their personal firearms in the photos, according to a Facebook post. Those under the age of 18 can be in the photo, but can't handle any of the guns. In addition, children won't be allowed past the lobby.
But some say the Christmas spirit doesn't include guns. A post about the event on its Facebook page drew a number of negative comments, WSB reported.
"Firearms are such a hotly debated item that you're going to have people on both sides of the fence and you're going to have opinions flying," Casey Retterer, who works at the gun range, told WSB.
"It's for a good cause. It's for charity so I don't see any problem with it whatsoever. If somebody doesn't want to bring their kid here, just don't," club member Bret Ciaranella told the station.
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