In September 2017 Petersen was banned from Facebook during his senate campaign for giving away an AR-15 style rifle as a promotion and criticizing his Democratic opponent Claire McCaskill 's positions on gun rights . The ban was lifted after Fox News and the '' New York Post '' reported that Facebook 's COO Sheryl Sandberg had made max donations to McCaskill 's campaign . The raffle drew renewed controversy in February 2018 when the school shooting in Parkland , Florida caused the '' Springfield News-Leader '' to investigate . KMOV in St. Louis scrutinized Petersen over his Second Amendment views in light of the shooting
school shooting in Parkland , Florida
Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
Austin Petersen