A pro-gun rights group in Florida announced it will give free guns and ammunition to residents in Orlando as long as they pass a background check, United Press International reported.

The Armed Citizens Project (ACP) of Florida -- created to halt crime rates by arming citizens -- began advertising the deal in the Sunshine Gardens neighborhood. 

"The Armed Citizen Project is dedicated to facilitating the arming of law abiding citizens, and analyzing the relationship between increased firearm availability and rates. We are choosing mid-high crime neighborhoods in cities across America, and offering defensive weapons to citizens that can pass a background check, and that will take our safety, legal, and tactical training. The data that we collect will be used in the completion of a policy study that will measure the deterrent effects of firearms on crime," the group's website says.

Sunshine Gardens is not a heavily crime-ridden area, according to the Orlando Sentinel.  

"That's what really cracked me up," said resident Cathy Rodgers. "I've never felt unsafe in my neighborhood. I just feel like they're preying on people's fears."

Another resident, Robin McLaughin, agrees with Rodgers.

"No. I would not need to have a shotgun," McLaughlin said of living in the neighborhood. 

Ron Ritter, state director for ACP of Florida, said they have not handed out one shotgun ever since their inception six months ago and defended the program as "perfectly legal."

Hoping to obtain a non-profit status, the group wants to reach out to gun owners and shops to gather donated firearms. The group was created after a similar organization from Texas founded in January, aimed at arming single women and residents of dangerous neighborhoods. 

In July, former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman was acquitted in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida, prompting heated debates nationwide about gun laws, specifically in the state of Florida.