Right now, there’s a glut of politicians who want to take away your Second Amendment rights, particularly when it comes to the AR-15. We’ve covered some of those voices rather extensively. They’ve come right out and said they’re coming for your AR-15s and AK-47s.

So, it’s refreshing when a congressional hopeful says that he’s not coming for your guns, but that he wants to give you one.

Republican congressional hopeful Eric Brakey is giving away an AR-15 rifle to one of his monthly campaign contributors.

“I want to give people a gun,” Brakey said Thursday.

The ex-state senator from Auburn told potential donors that “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and my opponent, Jared Golden want to take away your guns, but I want to give you one!”

…

His campaign plans next month to give what it calls “the ‘most wanted’ firearm by gun grabbers” to one of the people who have signed up by then to contribute a monthly donation of at least $5 to Brakey’s 2nd District congressional campaign in Maine.

Brakey said the firearms giveaway plan has already bumped up donations and attracted attention to his campaign.

I’m sure it has.

The idea of giveaways to donors isn’t particularly new. Hell, I keep getting Pete Buttigieg ads on Twitter offering me the chance to see “Hamilton” with his husband if I kick in a little money to his campaign.

At least Brakey is giving away something people want.

After all, the AR-15 isn’t just the “‘most wanted’ firearm by gun grabbers,” it’s also the most wanted firearm in general. It’s the single most popular model of firearm in the United States, a position it’s held since the original “assault weapon” ban in 1994. Giving one away is a solid plan.

Frankly, I like the idea myself. It’s also bound to send anti-gunners into conniptions, which I’m sure is a pleasant bonus for Brakey.

It’s an interesting strategy, too. By focusing on monthly donations, especially small donations, he has the opportunity to garner a great deal of revenue on a monthly basis without anyone having to donate a massive sum of money. Plus, at something like $5 a month, a lot of people will ignore the donation coming out of their bank accounts each month. It’s not going to put a hurt, which means steady money throughout the campaign season.

Smart.

Unfortunately, there is an important question that must be answered. In particular, which AR-15?

Luckily, Brakey has already answered that one.

Brakey said he’s getting the AR-15 from Windham Weaponry, a Maine company. It costs about $1,200, he said.

I’m not going to lie; I have to applaud him for not just the giveaway itself but for using a model built in his state. That should blunt a tad bit of criticism, especially since he can counter any such criticism with why do those people want to take away jobs from law-abiding Maine citizens. At least, that’s what I’d do.

Frankly, I think this is brilliant, and I like Brakey’s take on this.