Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad
A Florida high school raffled off guns and other weaponry through a month-long fundraising campaign that ended Wednesday.
James Madison Preparatory High School in Madison, a charter school, raffled off fishing and hunting gear and firearms, including handguns and semi-automatic rifles,in a $100-per-ticket raffle that started May 2.
The raffle went on largely unimpeded despite two horrific, national tragedies: mass shootings at a Buffalo supermarket and an elementary school in Texas that left nearly three dozen people dead last month.
Giveaways like this emphasize the need for background checks on all gun sales and transfers
In Florida, transfers and unlicensed sales of firearms do not require background checks. Only licensed sellers are required to perform background checks.
This giveaway does not promote safe gun ownership, which should go hand in hand with hunting and with sport shooting. This is just an unnecessary abdication of a school’s duty to keep their students and community safe.
Nancy Fry, Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action in Broward Count
Facebook posts purportedly include videos from raffle
Instead, in a video clip apparently from the raffle that was posted on Tuesday on the school’s Facebook page, two men spin a tumbler full of paper slips while lauding the prizes in the raffle.
“Everyone needs a Remington 97,” says the man on the left in the video clip, as the man on the right, assistant principal Patrick White, pulls out names.
The school did take a short break from the raffle after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two adults dead.
“Out of respect for these tragic events, we will not have a raffle drawing this morning. We will resume raffle drawings on Tuesday, May 31. God bless each of you and your families,” P
Principal Mark Akerman in a Facebook post dated May 25.