A rifle raffle is proving controversial in one Wisconsin community. Friends of the NRA in Waunakee is selling tickets for a chance to win a gun similar to the one used in the Stoneman Douglas High School massacre. Member Brian Downey says some of the money raised will go toward school safety programs.
“We’re the good guys,” he told 27 News. “We’re the ones who aren’t just talking about it, we’re actually doing it.”
Teachers and students at Waunakee High School plan to protest the drawing. “I am concerned just practiced out barricade drill, and a week late one of those guns is being raffled in one of our communities,” said Cindy Lindquist, a teacher at the high school.
There’s also been opposition to the planned raffle prize award of an AR-15 in May by the Janesville Professional Police Association. The winner of the Waunakee drawing will have to pass a background check to claim the prize.
Downey said the raffle is an annual, long-standing event that benefits many grant applicants through the National Rifle Association. He says grants include funds for NRA School Shield, to help with school safety initiatives.
WIBA