NRA Produces Video Showcasing Gun-Free Zone Attacks Featuring Penn Square Mall

<p>A video from the National Rifle Association (NRA) claiming terrorists target gun-free zones is stirring controversy after showing images of so called weak points inside Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Penn Square Mall.</p>

Friday, July 8th 2016, 7:01 pm

By: Grant Hermes


A video from the National Rifle Association (NRA) claiming terrorists target gun-free zones is stirring controversy after showing images of so called weak points inside Oklahoma City’s Penn Square Mall.

The video titled “Radical Islamic Terrorists Targeting Gun Free Malls” was posted on the National Rifle Association's news website opens with a fictional terrorist appearing to be of Middle Eastern descent planning an attack. After making reference to the mall shooting in Kenya in 20-13 the video cuts to images the inside Oklahoma City's Penn Square Mall.

“He wants to be remembered for killing more people than the terrorists before him. That's exactly why he's looking for gun-free zones in states and cities where politicians have reduced our second amendment freedoms,” The video’s narrator, Dom Raso said referring to the fictionalized terrorist.

Raso, a former Navy Seal, suggested in the video terrorists chose gun-free zones in pro-gun control states to carry out attacks. According to academic studies as far back as the year 2000, there is no evidence to support his claim. Oklahoma has some of fewest restrictions on gun ownership.

The video was also being criticized by some for potentially being used as a blueprint for a would-be attacker looking to target Penn Square Mall.

“He wants lots of open area, high ground and place to channelize people,” Raso said in the video 

The images of the mall were shot on a cell phone, showing spots where a gunman would be able to shoot from high ground, choose places away from exits and corral would-be victims to rack up a death toll. The video also shows crowds of shoppers, diners and “no firearm” signs posted on mall entrances.

The Oklahoma City Police spokesperson declined to comment on the video saying in an email "There is no Oklahoma City connection, other than a few brief shots of Penn Square Mall.  The video never singles out OKC." The spokesperson also referred the inquiry be sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation which also declined to comment.

A News9 source with knowledge of the video’s production said it was produced by an Oklahoma City advertising agency.  The video also appears in the group’s commentary section, sponsored by Kimber firearms. The video shows Raso firing a Kimber handgun before the commentary begins.

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