Posted on 02/23/2004 4:09:39 PM PST by TERMINATTOR
HAMISH ROBERTSON: Well staying in the United States, Anti-gun campaigners are concerned about a worrying trend in which charity groups and fundraisers are using guns as prizes in raffles.
A volunteer fire brigade has set a new benchmark with its raffle, giving away a gun every day for the entire year.
It says it needs the cash to continue operating, but many are wondering whether America, a nation already saturated with guns, needs anymore.
Lisa Millar compiled this report.
(sound of cars passing by)
LISA MILLAR: A few hours drive west of Washington DC lies Emmitsburg, Maryland, which gets its share of tourists. A small country town, it's part of America's civil war history, Gettysburg is just a few kilometres away.
But it's attracting national attention now because of the way in which the local fire brigade is raising money.
It's holding a gun raffle, not just any gun raffle, but one that gives away a weapon for every day of the year.
One of the brigade's volunteers, Chris Stahley, admits some people were initially anxious.
CHRIS STAHLEY: You had your mixed feelings. I mean, you had people who were totally for it, they knew the good cause it was going for, they knew they were hunting guns, they're guns that everybody that's buying these calendars already have and then you also had the ones that wondered why a fire department would want to give guns away and make this a more dangerous place than it already is.
LISA MILLAR: The brigade sells a 2004 calendar for $30. Each day's prize is clearly marked.
CHRIS STAHLEY: That's another good hunting gun. Of course, as I said, they're all hunting guns that we give away. There's some normal, regular guns and then there's also some collectors items like the Dale Earnhardt 12-gauge shotgun, that's more than likely will not be used for hunting, if somebody wins it they’ll probably keep it as a collector's item because of the name.
LISA MILLAR: John Hollinger shows me one of the prizes, assembling it fresh from the box.
(sound of a rifle being assembled)
It's a Winchester rifle due to be given away in a few days.
He's volunteered for this brigade for 58 years and he can't understand the fuss about the raffle.
JOHN HOLLINGER: It's not really unusual I don't really think in this part of the country. There's a lot of organisations, sportsman's clubs and fire departments, they hold these types of raffles.
LISA MILLAR: Chris Stahley is adamant the guns are for hunting and nothing else.
CHRIS STAHLEY: They're not out to put weapons in bad people's hands, I mean everybody’s got to… they just can't just win a gun and get it, they need to go through a background check.
(sound of siren)
LISA MILLAR: This small town fire brigade says the raffle is the difference between being able to help people or not.
CHRIS STAHLEY: It's the only way we succeed. We have to do these fundraisers to get the equipment that you see here in this fire department. Without that we'd be a little bit of nothing.
LISA MILLAR: But anti-gun campaigner Leah Barrett says the popularity of gun raffles is frightening. Even more frightening, that they’re so common many Americans no longer raise an eyebrow.
LEAH BARRETT: I think that Americans are adequately armed. A UN survey on small arms released over the summer showed that Americans are the most heavily armed civilian population in the world. We have between 86 and 92 guns per 100 people, approaching one gun per person, and the next most heavily armed country is Yemen, they have 40 weapons per 100 hundred people.
So I think raffling guns in a culture that’s already totally saturated with guns, hand guns, assault weapons, rifles, is irresponsible, publicly irresponsible. It's a public health menace and does nothing to alleviate the horrible gun carnage that we have here every year.
LISA MILLAR: But the Emmitsburg Fire Brigade rejects any suggestion it's contributing to America's gun culture. It's going to make $60,000 from this raffle, and it's been such a success, they're already working on next year's calendar.
This is Lisa Millar in Emmitsburg, Maryland, for Correspondents Report.
It's a beautiful thing, but there's room for improvment. We need to get up to at least one gun and 1,000 rounds per person. Buy more guns and BLOAT! God bless America!
Writing a news story saying that something "fails to raise eyebrows" is almost de facto evidence of bias.
Why the hell should it raise eyebrows?, one wants to ask these "reporters".
...and, as a result, a thoroughly crappy place to live, where foreigners fear to visit and its own citizens are fleeing the country in droves...
Oh, no, wait. It doesn't say that. Hm.
Owning only two guns, I admit I haven't really done my part to contribute to the gun carnage in my neck of the woods. With a new .357, I hope to do better.
By the way, I find it interesting that in that very same neck of the woods, where just about everyone has a hunting rifle or some sort of weaponry, the murder rate is practically nil. I wonder how that could be!
Interestingly, Ms. Barrett needs to re-study her talking points, if this is the report she's referring to. The real numbers are "83 to 96", according to the chapter entitled "Fewer Blanks". Yemen has "33 to 50" and Finland has "39" per 100.
Surprisingly, reading from this report, it seems to be more sober and careful than the typical "more guns = bad" fearmongering you get from the likes of Mrs. Barrett. Here's an excerpt:
While it is tempting to contract peace-loving Europe against gun-wielding America, careful analysis shows that this is not confirmed by facts. Contrary to assumptions that Europeans are virtually disarmed, the 15 countries of the European Union alone have an estimated 84 million firearms.
Here's another:
The chapter [shows]...how misleading it can be to assume that the greatest dangers come exclusively from the most numerous and advanced small arms.
Ms. Barrett should more carefully read her own propaganda sources. They do not support what she is saying.
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