Posted on 09/03/2011 6:13:05 AM PDT by marktwain
The Pima County Republican Party’s controversial gun raffle fundraiser was such a success that they ended up raffling off another weapon.
The notoriety fueled such demand, said interim Chairman Mike Shaw, not only did the raffle for the Glock pistol sell out, but they subsequently raffled a deer rifle as well.
The raffle garnered worldwide attention because it was organizes eight months after the Tucson shooting spree.
The model of Glock is not the same as the one Jared Lee Loughner used in the Jan. 8, rampage. The gun used by Loughner was a Glock 19. The weapon being raffled is a Glock 23.
Loughner faces 49 criminal counts in the mass shooting that left six people dead and 13 wounded, including the apparent target of the shooting, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
National progressive pundit Keith Olbermann dubbed the raffle “a crass, heartless, Neanderthal decision” and questioned whether local Republican leaders had ceased to be human.
Locally, some Republicans have likewise publicly distanced themselves from the raffle.
City Councilman Steve Kozachik characterized it as “incredibly stupid,” especially when the party is gearing up for the city’s general election.
“When you have a slate of candidates who are already trying to generate some name recognition, in a City where they are out-registered by 2:1, and you tie a Glock to their tail, you've pretty much shown that you don't understand the dynamics of the area,” he concluded.
But Shaw said he was told Democrats and independents bought tickets, estimating 10 percent of the buyers were Democrats.
He also said three Democrats changed their voter registration to Republican on Thursday, with another Friday morning.
Democratic state lawmaker Matt Heinz, who owns a Beretta firearm, remains critical of the raffle.
(Excerpt) Read more at azstarnet.com ...
There is nothing insensitive about people having an opportunity to win property. Attacking fund raisers for raffling popular items, that’s insensitive. Your personal problem with firearms is your personal problem. People not objects constitute good and bad.
If you had read all the comments you would see I don’t have any “personal problem” with firearms. It is insensitive to attack a fellow freeper for their personal opinion to an post without at least reading all the comments.
To put this in more clear terms. I read the comments. I object to saying that the raffle was insensitive. We need to make it clear that we don’t accept the whinings of the left and that we are not apologizing for believing that people can and should acquire guns. What is clear is that we need to be in their faces about our rights and to show that their opinions are of little or no value. Let’s us set the agenda for a change.
I accept that and agree. It is just my humble opinion in this case, where the demographic is 2 to 1 against you, there is a better way to raise money for at least a year.
I’m wondering if there’s some rule that if someone is shot, it’s inappropriate to ever sell a gun in their county again.
The left politicized the shooting of a congresswoman. They politicize everything. ANd here they tried to politicize the congresswoman’s shooting again.
We can no longer let the media dictate to us what is acceptable.”
I think that all the free publicity the media gave this raffle with all their bitching caused more & more people to call in & buy tickets!!!
Perhaps GOP groups all over the country need to use this tactic.
I would spend a couple of bucks in a raffle to have a new shotgun, etc....
You live in Tucson and I live in Sierra Vista. We both have AZ CCWs and I raffle guns for a living.
There will never be a better time to raise money by raffling a firearm, because the anti-gunners in Tucson will never let us forget about that January day.
That leaves us with a choice. We can bow to the wishes of the left, or we can stand up for what we believe in.
I'll stand up for my beliefs, and continue to raffle guns as a fundraiser.
I need to amend that. I don’t raffle guns for a living, it’s more of a side-line. But I do it year-round and have yet to receive any flack for it.
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