Guns N' Droneses: Amid Bid for Texas House, Shelley Luther Goes Full-Blown Kid Rock

Shelley Luther is gunning for the Texas House and hawking guns in her spare time.

In a video posted to Facebook last week, the conservative candidate for state House told her followers the good news: Her sweet, custom-made assault rifle had arrived.

“This is one of the coolest days ever since I’ve gotten out of jail,” she said, laughing in a cramped, brightly lit garage. “Yeah, that’s right, I said, ‘Gotten out of jail.’”

You might remember Luther as the salon owner who was briefly jailed in 2020 after she defied a governor’s order shutting down businesses to slow the spread of COVID-19. She also made the conservative media rounds and unsuccessfully ran for state Senate.

Following her December 2020 loss, Luther lay low for a while before reemerging as a candidate for House District 62, which covers Delta, Fannin and Grayson counties. Now, she’s using her political platform to promote some dude’s custom firearm business.

If you ever wondered what it would be like if Kid Rock and Vanna White had a baby, look no further than this 3-minute gem. In it, Luther explains how an Air Force veteran reached out to her last year. He’d hoped to get his custom-AR business, Punisher Built, off the ground, and he asked if she’d be willing to do a bit of cross-promotion.

Next, Luther invites the Punisher-loving businessman to show off his wares.
Luther’s decked-out firearm includes red, white and blue coloring and is adorned with the quote, “I will not apologize, I am not shutting down.” It also has a silhouette of an 1836-era Texas, Luther’s signature, a Republic of Texas insignia and the “Come and take it” cannon. Sick, bruh.

Like Donald Trump before her, Luther is carrying on the American tradition of politicians awkwardly endorsing companies. Who can forget when the then-president sang My Pillow's praises or when he gave Goya products two thumbs up?

With Luther, Punisher Built can rest assured that their gun is in capable hands.

During her run for state Senate, Luther slammed her opponent in an attack ad. She accused then-state Rep. Drew Springer of writing a bill that would allow Chinese drones to surveil Texas infrastructure and take “thermal and infrared images of our homes.”

Then, to illustrate her distaste for the proposal, Luther showed a low-flying drone who’s boss.

“I’m Shelley Luther. This is what I think about Chinese Communist drones flying over my property,” she said before cocking a gun and blasting the drone to smithereens. (Some pointed out in the YouTube comments that it’s a felony to shoot drones out of the sky.) The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sure does seem to be living rent-free in Luther’s mind.

Last week, in a since-deleted tweet, the salon owner wrote, "Chinese students should be BANNED from attending all Texas universities. No more Communists!” She also said in another tweet that CCP members "should not have access to our schools." That take wasn’t popular among some of Luther’s would-be colleagues, including Democratic state Rep. Gene Wu, who condemned her statements as “hateful and ignorant.”

Some may balk at Luther’s disdain for the CCP and her passion for firearms, but she likely wouldn’t mind. Between butchering the words to Guns N’ Roses songs as she did in a live performance Luther posted to her Facebook, and breaking the law, ain’t nobody gonna tell her how to live.