A Republican candidate for one of Missouri's U.S. Senate seats says his campaign's AR-15 raffle got him banned from Facebook for 30 days.

Austin Petersen, who ran in 2016 for the Libertarian Party's presidential election, says the firearm being given away by his Senate campaign was a gift from a donor who said "here, take it, and give it away."

The promotion is still ongoing, and Petersen says it has more than 2,500 entries. The contest rules note that "making a contribution does not increase your chances of winning the prize" and values the rifle at $700.

"I'm a strong advocate for the Second Amendment, and it's a great way to get the word out," Petersen told the News-Leader on Monday.

Petersen, who was born in Independence and lives in the Kansas City area, talked about the promotion in a live Facebook video and also discussed the voting record of Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.

He says Facebook apparently had a problem with his conduct.

The video — which Petersen says he paid to promote to increase its audience — has been taken down, and Petersen says his personal account has been banned for 30 days.

"We're very curious," he said. "We're paying for promotion on Facebook, and we have other posts about the gun that are still up."

Multiple posts about the AR-15 giveaway are visible on Petersen's public Facebook page, though he says he cannot use his personal account for a month "for some violation which I wasn't able to quite understand."

Petersen says his campaign's digital team has reached out to Facebook for clarification.

In response to a request for comment, a Facebook representative said the social media company would not comment on individual accounts but referred the News-Leader to part of its "community standards" pertaining to firearm sales.

"The purchase, sale or trade of firearms, ammunition and explosives between private individuals isn't allowed on Facebook," the Facebook standards say. "...Firearm shops and online retailers are allowed to engage in commercial activity involving firearms and ammunition on Facebook ... as long as all applicable laws and regulations are followed."