An Upstate New York pastor is raffling off rifles during his Sunday sermons to connect the "Christian values" or the United States' founding fathers with citizens' Second Amendment rights.
About 150 attendees filed into Lansingburgh's Grace Baptist Church this past Sunday to hear Pastor John Koletas' hymn and enter a raffle to win an AR-15 rifle, the Times Union reported.
Koletas, who preaches in front of a large American flag and right-to-bear-arms-text hanging on the walls of the church, organized a similar giveaway earlier this month.
"We have our Constitution to protect us, but we have our liberty to protect ourselves," Koletas said during Sunday's service.
Some have criticized Koletas' attempts to show the importance of gun rights and its link to the nation's roots - some controversy reportedly occurred when Koletas' giveaway flier showed a photo of a gun in full prominence.
But this past weekend, churchgoers were relatively calm and quiet as they filled the pews and submitted their names for the raffle.
42-year-old Schenectady resident Ron Stafford won the rifle, valued between $800 and $1,200.
Stafford must undergo a background check before he can gain full ownership of the gun, the Times Union reported.
"This is our way of life here in Upstate New York," Stafford said. "The media has demonized people."
Despite other ministers' chiding Koletas' sermon style and rifle giveaway, the pastor insisted in an online letter that he wanted to respect gun owners "who have been so viciously attacked by the antichristian socialist media," as well as politicians.
Koletas said some had even sent against the church when they heard of the raffle.
A similar rifle model was used in the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the Associated Press reported.
