Candidate Uses AK-47 to Raise Cash

John Eby, WYFF News 4 Reporter

GREENVILLE S.C. -- A candidate for South Carolina’s Adjutant General found a high-powered way to appeal to supporters over the weekend.

Dean Allen held a drawing for an AK-47 at a fundraiser in Greenville on Saturday.

The event, called a “Machine Gun Social,” was held at Allen Arms Indoor Range on Poinsett Highway. For $25, donors were given a barbeque lunch and twenty shots with a machine gun. A free drawing determined the winner of the semi-automatic AK-47, valued at $700.

“I can't swear that I'll have the biggest fundraiser in terms of money,” Allen said, “but I intend to have the loudest fundraiser in the history of the South Carolina Republican party.”

Allen said he chose the unusual venue to show support for the Second Amendment, and to give people a chance to have fun.

“You know most political candidates -- on the Republican side in particular -- they want to get out to the country club and stand around with a glass of wine in their hand,” he said.

South Carolina is the only state which elects its Adjutant General. The office has authority over the state’s defense forces, including the South Carolina National Guard.

“The plan on paper says the National Guard will reinforce law enforcement. Well, if the National Guard is in Afghanistan it can't do that,” Allen told News 4’s John Eby.

Allen said he advocates bringing National Guardsmen back from Afghanistan to address domestic issues such as illegal immigration.

He cited his military experience as well as around 30 years as a business consultant as qualifications for the office of Adjutant General.

“I'm not some left wing hippie, I spent six years in the Army, and six years in the South Carolina State Guard,” he said.

The current Adutant General, Maj. Gen. Stanhope Spears. He has not said whether he will run for re-election.

As for the AK-47 at the “Machine Gun Social,” Allen says the winner of the drawing was Ken Massone. Massone will have to complete a background check before taking his semi-automatic prize home.