Pastor Who Bought Gun to Destroy It May Face Charges

The old line that the road to hell is paved with good intentions comes to mind, but it probably won't go that far in the case of the Rev. Jeremy Lucas of Christ Church Episcopal Parish in Lake Oswego.

Last week he won an AR-15 at a raffle. He had bought $3,000 worth of tickets hoping he would win so he could have the gun destroyed.

"No one will ever hold a moment of silence because this gun has done that thing," he told a reporter after he won. "And that made me pretty happy."

The gun had been auctioned by a kids' softball team raising money to compete at a tournament in California.

Lucas didn't necessarily think he would win, but he wanted to try to make sure the gun was never used in a crime. At the least, he wanted to help the softball team conducting the auction.

The team — the Oregon Big League Girls' All Star Softball Team, which is made up of players from Centennial, Gresham and Milwaukie high schools — was looking to raise money so it could fly to California and represent Oregon at the West Regional Tournament. Willamette Week first reported the news of the raffle.

Now it turns out there may be a problem.

After winning the gun, Lucas turned it over to a parishioner, someone he described as a responsible gun owner with a gun safe, to hold on to it while he figured out how to have it destroyed.

The problem is that Oregon law says that he had to do a background check on the parishioner.

So, now Oregon State Police is conducting an investigation.

If they were to bring charges, and he were convicted, Lucas could be fined $6,250 and be sentenced to a year in jail.

A former lawyer in Alabama — he was born and raised in Birmingham — Lucas practiced in the state and federal courts, devoting much of his time to pro bono work preventing violence to humans and animals. In 2000, he was the lead author for Alabama's first Felony Animal Cruelty bill, which was signed into law later that year.

In 2001, needing a change, he moved to New York City to enroll in the General Theological Seminary. His first day in New York was September 11th.

Before arriving in Oregon, Lucas served in Athens, Alabama, Namibia and North Clark County, Washington.

As of now, there are no indications that Lucas has any regrets.

On Saturday, he wrote on Facebook, referencing a shooting in Seattle that was done with a similar weapon:

"If anyone thinks I'm sorry about spending $3000 to take an AR-15 off the streets and out of our society, think again," he wrote in the caption.

Photo courtesy of Christ Church Episcopal Parish