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'I do not need this rifle': Florida hunter gives up AR-57 to police after Parkland shooting

Josh Hafner
USA TODAY
An image from a post in which a Florida resident described surrendering his AR-57 rife.

After last week's shooting in Parkland, Fla., ended 17 lives, Ben Dickmann looked at his AR-57 rifle — a variant of the same rifle used in last week's attack —and decided he had had enough.

"I do not need this rifle," he wrote in a post on Facebook. "No one without a law enforcement badge needs this rifle. This rifle is not a “tool” I have use for."

Accompanying the post were photos taken by Dickmann, a resident of nearby Fort Lauderdale, as he surrendered the rifle to the local Broward County Sheriff's Office. The resulting receipt had a note scribbled at the top: "Dispose/Destroy Per Owner."

An image from a post in which a Florida resident described surrendering his AR-57 rifle.

"I enjoyed shooting this rifle immensely but I don’t need it, I have other types I can shoot for the same enjoyment," Dickmann wrote after handing the gun over to officers.

He added: "I could have easily sold this rifle, but no person needs this. I will be the change I want to see in this world. If our law makers will continue to close their eyes and open their wallets, I will lead by example."

More:Store that sold gun to Florida shooter closes its doors

Dickmann, a self-described "responsible, highly trained gun owner," told NPR that he's a lifelong hunter who made the decision after "soul searching" that began after the Las Vegas shooting last year. The gunman in that attack used an AR-15.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-robcast/id956742638?mt=2

He expressed concerns about concealed weapons permits in the state, too, which he called a "joke."

"Literally, it's three hours of PowerPoint, and then you go down to the range with a very, very low caliber handgun, and you have to put five out of 10 rounds on a paper plate at 5 feet," Dickmann told NPR. 

An image from a post in which a Florida resident described surrendering his AR-57 rife.

More:Why the AR-15 keeps appearing at America's deadliest mass shootings

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