Gun Shop Cancels Rifle Raffle for Orlando Shooting Victims

Photo credit: TheAlphaWolf via Wikimedia Commons

A firearm shop's decision to raise money for the victims in a nightclub shooting in Orlando by raffling off an AR-15 rifle was blasted over social media with some calling the move insensitive, idiotic and disrespectful.

The raffle, however, has been cancelled as questions were raised about whether a business could conduct such a raffle under Illinois law. Only non-profits can hold raffles in Illinois.

Second Amendment Sports, a gun shop in McHenry, announced this past week it would sell $5 raffle tickets through the end of July and would raffle off the grand prize, a Smith & Wesson AR-15 modern sporting rifle, which is similar to the weapon used in the June 12 Orlando attack. The rifle would have been raffled off on July 31. The shop planned to donate $2,000, along with the proceeds of its raffle, to the One Orlando Fund in “response to the Orlando terrorist attack,” according to a post on the shop’s Facebook page.

“It’s important for people to know how much our business supports all Americans against these types of acts,” according to the Facebook post.

The post on the Second Amendment Sports Facebook page has received plenty of comments critical of the fundraiser, while others have spoken up in support of the shop.

One Facebook follower wrote: “You are raffling off a gun similar to the one that killed the victims FOR the victims?????? This is a whole new level of idiocy. I'm astounded. You're literally raffling off a chance for this to happen again. Unbelievable.”

It should come as no surprise the fundraiser has stirred up further debate between those in favor of gun rights and those opposed.

One Facebook follower wrote: “I plan on stopping by Saturday to donate. Guns don't kill people. People kill people sometimes with a gun …”

Kathleen Larimer, of Crystal Lake, has expressed her disgust over the raffle, which she labeled as “cruel,” according to the Northwest Herald. Larimer’s son, 27-year-old John Larimer, was killed in the 2012 attack in Aurora, Colorado, when the gunman, who carried an AR-15 rifle and other weapons, opened fire on a crowded movie theater.

“The best analogy I can come up with is, you don’t raise money for victims from a drunk driving accident by raffling off a case of alcohol,” Larimer told the Northwest Herald. “It’s insensitive. It’s tacky, at best.”

Bert Irslinger Jr., the co-owner of Second Amendment Sports, which has held similar raffles in the past for local causes and picked the AR-15 to raffle off because of its popularity, simply wanted to help the victims of the Orlando attack, according to the Northwest Herald.

“It’s a heinous attack. It’s terrorist activity,” Irslinger told the newspaper. “We thought we would take the focus off this being a gun issue, which it is not, and put it to the fact of what it is, which is a terrorist attack on Americans. We want to support Americans and the victims and their families in this event.”

More via the Northwest Herald and the Second Amendment Sports Facebook page