Gun Manufacturer Markets Rifle 'Muslim Terrorists Won't Touch'

A new AR-15 assault rifle model made in Apopka is being billed as one that would “never be used by Muslim terrorists.”

The Spike’s Tactical Crusader is a standard AR-15 by design, but this particular model has undergone a few cosmetic modifications to make it reportedly offensive to those of the Muslim faith. The Bible verse, Psalm 144:1 has been laser etched into the rifle. It says, “Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”

The AR-15 also includes a few other tweaks, including a laser-etched shield and cross. The safety selector features the words “Peace,” for the safe setting, “War” for the semi-automatic mode, and “God wills it.” The reverse site of the safety selector bears the Latin translations of those words and phrases.

Shooting standard .223 or 5.56 ammunition, the rifle may be modified further with the change of a barrel. The new design retails for $1,395, but comes with a lifetime warranty.

The Crusader’s manufacturer, Spike’s Tactical, was launched on Sept. 10, 2001, by Mike and Angela Register. The company is family owned and employs more than 40 people, according to a press release on the Crusader’s launch.

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• Gun Store’s ‘Muslim Free Zone’ Draws Legal Fire
• George Zimmerman Teams Up with ‘Muslim Free Zone’ Gun Shop Owner

“Right now and as it has been for quite some time, one of the biggest threats in the world is and remains Islamic terrorism,” said Ben “Mookie” Thomas, spokesman for Spike’s Tactical, who is a former Navy Seal and former Blackwater security contractor. “We wanted to make sure we built a weapon that would never be able to be used by Muslim terrorists to kill innocent people or advance their radical agenda.”

Thomas told Patch the reasons behind the new model are two-fold. Spike’s Tactical wants to prompt an open discussion about the threat extremists pose to the world. Secondly, the gun manufacturer wanted to create a model that would be unlikely to end up in the hands of Muslim terrorists.

The idea for the Crusader model was born, Thomas said, as he was driving into work one morning listing to NPR on the radio, hearing about “ISIS and the inhumanity of their behavior.”

As a former military man and security contractor in the Middle East, Thomas said he understands well that many of the weapons used by terrorists are made in the United States and paid for by others.

“I know many Muslims, they are good people,” he said. “But, radical Muslims are destroying the world.”

The hope is the new model will get people talking openly about the threat, Thomas said, rather than labeling any discussion “offensive and off the books.”

“There’s a holocaust happening over there and America is at Starbucks,” he said.

Thomas understands the rifle’s launch is likely to raise controversy, but insists it’s not a publicity stunt or a bigoted maneuver.

“We just wanted to make a statement that in America right now any sensitive subject that’s important is immediately halted in discussion,” he said, adding the company wanted to take “ownership of our product.”

Patch also reached out to the Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida chapter for comment.

“Americans have tragically witnessed over 250 mass killings in 2015 alone, which amounts to more than one per each day,” Ali A. Kurnaz, communications coordinator told Patch. “Only one of those killings involved a self-proclaimed Muslim. Sadly, this manufacturer’s fancy new gun won’t do anything to stop the real threat in America: the escalating problem of gun violence. This is just another shameful marketing ploy intended to profit from the promotion of hatred, division, and violence.”

CAIR Florida is currently embroiled in a legal battle with another member of Florida’s gun industry. In July, the owner of Florida Gun Supply declared his Inverness store a “Muslim-free zone.” The action, CAIR has alleged in a federal lawsuit, violates civil rights afforded to all Americans by the U.S. Constitution.

“CAIR Florida has gone above and beyond to amicably reach a resolution outside of court with Florida Gun Supply regarding its discriminatory policies,” Thania Diaz Clevenger, Civil Rights Director of CAIR Florida, was quoted in a media release about the complaint as saying. “We want to make the law crystal-clear to any businesses elsewhere contemplating the implementation of such policies that religious discrimination is still illegal in the United States of America and that American Muslims are just as much entitled to their rights as every other American is.”

CIAR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group.

As the lawsuit looms, the gun shop’s owner, Andy Hallinan and George Zimmerman have formed a partnership to sell prints of one of Zimmerman’s Confederate flag paintings to raise money for legal defense.

Prints are still available on the gun shop’s website.

It is unclear how soon the court will take up the lawsuit.

To find out more about Spike’s Tactical, visit the manufacturer’s website.

Spike’s Tactical Crusader photos by Adam Offenback

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:09 p.m. with comments from the Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida chapter.