Scottsdale Gun Club Defends Family Photos With Santa And Rifles As Tradition …

Families who want to pose for photos with Santa while holding on to firearms will once again be able to do so at the Scottsdale Gun Club in Arizona.

“This is our third year doing this at the Scottsdale Gun Club, and every year it continues to grow larger and larger, a lot of folks turning this into a regular holiday tradition,” Ron Kennedy recently told “Fox Friends.”

Kennedy went on to explain that the gun club was looking to “add a little holiday spirit to people’s second amendment rights to be able to carry and purchase firearms.”

According to the club’s website, people are invited to pose with Santa and his machine guns at a starting price of $10.

“Santa’s back with his bag of goodies,” the promotional materials read.

The club already held one day of photo shoots on Nov. 17, and they’ll be holding another on Dec. 2.

In the past, guests have been invited to pose with Santa and a wide range of firearms, including pistols and and modified AR15s.

This isn’t the first time the event has prompted national attention. Last year, the Associated Press described several of the Santa-plus-arms pictures, some of which included young children:

One image shows Santa in a wingback chair with a snowflake background, a Christmas tree behind him and flanked by an $80,000 machine gun and a tripod-mounted rifle. Next to Santa is a man standing behind a boy, who is holding an unloaded AR-15 with an attached grenade launcher.

In another photo, Santa cradles a toddler dressed in camouflage, while a man and woman stand close by with rifles with foldable stocks.

At the time, Democratic state Rep. Steve Farley said the photos were inappropriate.

“To involve machine guns and Santa in a celebration in the birth of Jesus Christ is the worst kind of heresy I can imagine,” Farley told the AP. “I would suggest that the people who created this read some of the New Testament.”

When asked by “Fox Friends” about about Farley’s objections and, specifically, the Tucson shooting that wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others, the club’s manager responded by saying that people don’t have to participate in the event if they don’t want to. He also stressed the safety precautions that the club takes during the photo shoots, such as removing the firing pins and not allowing people to place their fingers on the triggers.

As Mediaite noted, the Scottsdale Gun Club has been the site of three self-inflicted shootings since 2007. Two of those shootings were considered suicides, and the third was accidental, according to the Arizona Republic.

(h/t The Raw Story for the find.)

Also on HuffPost:

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• 1981: The Attempted Assassination Of President Ronald Reagan

  on March 30, 1981, President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Reagan’s press secretary, Jim Brady, was shot in the head.

• 1993: The Brady Handgun Violence Act

  The Brady Handgun Violence Act of 1993, signed into law by President Bill Clinton, mandated that federally licensed dealers complete comprehensive background checks on individuals before selling them a gun. The legislation was named for James Brady, who was shot during an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

• 1994: The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act

  The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, instituted a ban on 19 kinds of assault weapons, including Uzis and AK-47s. The crime bill also banned the possession of magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition. (An exemption was made for weapons and magazines manufactured prior to the ban.)

• 2004: Law Banning Magazines Holding More Than Ten Rounds Of Ammunition Expires

  In 2004, ten years after it first became law, Congress allowed a provision banning possession of magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition to expire through a sunset provision. Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke told HuffPost that the expiration of this provision meant that Rep. Gabby Giffords’s alleged shooter was able to fire off 20-plus shots without reloading (under the former law he would have had only ten).

• 2007: The U.S. Court of Appeals For The District Of Columbia Rules In Favor Of Dick Heller

  In 2007 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled to allow Dick Heller, a licensed District police officer, to keep a handgun in his home in Washington, D.C. Following that ruling, the defendants petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

• 2008: The NICS Improvement Amendments Act

  Following the deadly shooting at Virginia Tech University, Congress passed legislation to require states provide data on mentally unsound individuals to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, with the aim of halting gun purchases by the mentally ill, and others prohibited from possessing firearms. The bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush in January of 2008.

• 2008: Supreme Court Strikes Down D.C. Handgun Ban As Unconstitutional

  In June of 2008, the United States Supreme Court upheld the verdict of a lower court ruling the D.C. handgun ban unconstitutional in the landmark case emDistrict of Columbia v. Heller/em.

• Gabrielle Giffords And Trayvon Martin Shootings

  Gun control advocates had high hopes that reform efforts would have increased momentum in the wake of two tragic events that rocked the nation.

  In January of 2011, Jared Loughner opened fire at an event held by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), killing six and injuring 13, including the congresswoman. Resulting attempts to push gun control legislation a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/trayvon-martin-shooting-gun-debate_n_1413115.html” target=”_hplink”proved fruitless/a, with neither proposal even succeeding in gaining a single GOP co-sponsor.

  More than a year after that shooting, Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/trayvon-martin” target=”_hplink”gunned down/a by George Zimmerman in an event that some believed would bring increased scrutiny on the nation’s Stand Your Ground laws. While there has been increasing discussion over the nature of those statutes, lawmakers were a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/trayvon-martin-shooting-gun-debate_n_1413115.html” target=”_hplink”quick to concede/a that they had little faith the event would effectively spur gun control legislation, thanks largely to the National Rifle Association’s vast lobbying power.

  Read more a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/trayvon-martin-shooting-gun-debate_n_1413115.html” target=”_hplink”here/a:

• Colorado Movie Theater Shooting

  In July of 2012, a heavily armed gunman a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/aurora-shooting-movie-theater-batman_n_1688547.html” target=”_hplink”opened fire on theatergoers/a attending a midnight premiere of the final film of the latest Batman trilogy, killing 12 and wounding scores more.

  The suspect, James Eagan Holmes, allegedly carried out the act with a number of handguns, as well as an AR-15 assault rifle with a 100-round drum magazine.

  Some lawmakers used the incident, which took place in a state with some of the laxest gun control laws, to bring forth legislation designed to place increased regulations on access to such weapons, but many observers, citing previous experience, were a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/batman-shooting_n_1690547.html” target=”_hplink”hesitant to say/a that they would be able to overcome the power of the National Rifle Association and Washington gun lobby.

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Prince William, Kate Middleton expecting a baby

UPDATED 4:23 p.m. Monday

LONDON — The most widely anticipated pregnancy since Princess Diana’s in 1981 is official: Prince William’s wife, Kate, is pregnant.

St. James’s Palace announced the pregnancy Monday, saying that the Duchess of Cambridge — formerly known as Kate Middleton — has a severe form of morning sickness and is currently in a London hospital. William is at his wife’s side.

News of the pregnancy drew congratulations from across the world, with the hashtag “royalbaby” trending globally on Twitter.

The couple’s first child will be third in line to take the throne — leapfrogging the gregarious Prince Harry and possibly setting up the first scenario in which a U.K. female heir could benefit from new gender rules about succession.

The palace would not say how far along the 30-year-old duchess is, only that she has not yet reached the 12-week mark. Palace officials said the duchess was hospitalized with hyperemesis gravidarum, a potentially dangerous type of morning sickness where vomiting is so severe no food or liquid can be kept down. They said she was expected to remain hospitalized for several days and would require a period of rest afterward.

“It’s not unusual for pregnant women to get morning sickness, but when it gets to the point where you’re dehydrated, losing weight or vomiting so much you begin to build up (toxic) products in your blood, that’s a concern,” said Dr. Kecia Gaither, director of maternal fetal medicine at Brookdale University and Medical Center in New York.

The condition is thought to affect about one in 50 pregnant women but Gaither said less than one per cent of women with the condition need to be hospitalized.

The news came just days after the duchess, on a royal appearance, was playing field hockey with schoolchildren at her former school.

Not only are the attractive young couple popular — with William’s easy common touch reminding many of his mother, the late Diana — but their child is expected to play an important role in British national life for decades to come.

William is second in line to the throne after his father, Prince Charles, so the couple’s first child would normally become a monarch — eventually.

The confirmation of Kate’s pregnancy caps a jam-packed year of highs and lows for the young royals, who were married in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey last year.

They have travelled the world extensively as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and weathered the embarrassment of a nude photos scandal, after a tabloid published topless images of the duchess.

Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said the news bookended a year that saw the royal family riding high in popular esteem after celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 years on the throne.

“We’re riding on a royal high at the moment at the end of the Diamond Jubilee year,” he said. “People enjoyed the royal romance last year and now there’s this. It’s just a good news story amid all the doom and gloom.”

Speculation about when the couple would start a family has been rife since their wedding.

William’s mother Diana got pregnant just four months after her wedding in 1981. Diana also reportedly suffered from morning sickness for months and complained of constant media attention.

“The whole world is watching my stomach,” Diana once said.

She gave birth to William in 1982 after 16 hours of labour. At his birth, William was given a baby tag marked ‘Baby Wales’ and a 41-gun salute was fired in Hyde Park and the Tower of London.

In September 1983, roughly a year after the birth of William, Buckingham Palace announced that Diana was pregnant for a second time. However, within a week, Diana suffered a miscarriage when on holiday at Balmoral, Scotland.

In 1984, she became pregnant again and gave birth to Harry.

American tabloid speculation of Kate’s pregnancy has been rampant for months. One newspaper even cited anonymous sources talking about Kate’s hormone levels. Others have focused on the first signs of the royal bump.

The palace said the royal family was “delighted” by the news. British Prime Minister David Cameron admitted he got a heads-up about the pregnancy, saying he found the news “quite difficult” to keep to himself and expressing his confidence the duo will make “absolutely brilliant parents.”

The leaders of Britain and the 15 former colonies that have the monarch as their head of state agreed in 2011 to new rules which give females equal status with males in the order of succession.

Although none of the nations had legislated the change as of September, the British Cabinet Office confirmed that this is now the de-facto rule.

Those changes make Kate’s pregnancy all the more significant for the royal family, according to Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine.

“This is the first child who will be an heir to the throne whatever sex they are,” she said. “It’s a new beginning.”

Graham Smith of anti-monarchy group Republic called Kate’s pregnancy a “private, personal matter” for her and William, saying the flood of media coverage was disproportionate

“We’ve heard today that our future head of state is on the way. It’s a pretty bizarre way of choosing someone for public office,” he said.

On the couple’s tour of Malaysia, Singapore, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu in September, William reportedly said he hoped he and Kate would have two children.

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless, Paisley Dodds and AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng contributed to this report.

ROYAL BABY: TIMELINE OF THE ROMANCE

LONDON — Prince William and his wife, Kate, are expecting their first child. Here’s some key moments in their romance.

• September 2001: William enrolls at St. Andrews University in Scotland, where he meets Kate, a fellow art history student.
• March 2002: Kate models a transparent dress over black lingerie at a charity fashion show at St. Andrews. It’s widely reported that William paid for a front-row seat at the show.
• September 2002: William and Kate move into a shared student house with two other friends.
• May 2003: The couple are pictured deep in conversation at a rugby match, sparking rumours of a romance.
• March 2004: William and Kate’s romance becomes public when they are pictured together on a Swiss skiing holiday. Later that year, media reports that they split briefly as William complained of feeling claustrophobic.
• April 2005: Kate does not attend the wedding of William’s father, the Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles in Windsor. Later that year, the pair graduate in the same ceremony at St. Andrews.
• December 2006: William is commissioned as an army officer in front of the queen at Sandhurst and joins the Household Cavalry as a second lieutenant. Kate attends the ceremony.
• April 2007: British newspapers report that William and Kate have split up. Prince Charles’ Clarence House office refuses to comment, but does not deny the report.
• July 2007: Media in the U.K. report that William and Kate have rekindled their romance.
• April 11, 2008: Kate is seen at William’s side at his graduation ceremony from the Royal Air Force, taken as a signal by royal watchers that their relationship is now serious.
• October 2010: William proposes to Kate while on a private holiday in Kenya.
• November 2010: Clarence House officially announces the engagement.
• December 2010: Kate and William attend a charity event to raise money for cancer research, Kate’s first official event as a royal fiancee.
• April 29, 2011: Prince William and Kate Middleton marry in a lavish ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey. In the months that follow, they travel the globe, often making appearances in honour of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.
• Sept. 14, 2012: A French magazine publishes photos of Kate sunbathing topless at a private house in southern France, prompting a strong condemnation from the royal family.
• Dec. 3, 2012: Royal officials announce that Kate is pregnant with her first child, yet hospitalized for morning sickness.

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