Michigan Gun Shop Owner Offers Class To Build Assault Weapon

MARSHALL, MI – Despite numerous rallies across the nation to promote stricter gun laws, one Michigan gun shop went ahead with a planned class at a local VFW hall to teach people how to build their own AR-15 assault rifle. That's the same weapon authorities say was used at a mass shooting at a Florida that left 17 students and staff members dead.

Some 30 protesters gathered outside the Marshal VFW on Tuesday night, reported the Associated Press. But inside the hall, 60 people – twice the number of protesters – took part in the class led by Chris Walden, who owns Walden's Firearms.

Participants paid $75 for the class and were taught how to build their own assault rifle for about half the price of an assembled gun, according to the AP article. Walden, the gun shop owner, told The Battle Creek Enquirer that all participants must be 21 years old and undergo a background check. The completed weapon also has a serial number.

One protester said the class is "slap in the face" to those who died in mass shootings. Meanwhile, Bill Thick Jr., the commander of the VFW post, called the AR-15 a "good weapon."

"I wish a few irresponsible people, people with bad intent, weren't using them, misusing them," Thick told the AP.

Information by the Associated Press was used for this story

Photo: Chris Walden, a Battle Creek gunsmith and firearms instructor, prepares to host the first of several three-hour sessions on gun safety and how to build a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4073, in Marshall, Michigan. (Trace Christenson/Battle Creek Enquirer via AP)