A McHenry Gun Shop Is Raffling An AR-15 To Benefit Orlando Victims
By Stephen Gossett in News on Jun 30, 2016 9:15PM
Facebook / Second Amendment Sports
In what may be the most egregious case of the means not justifying the ends in recent memory, a McHenry, Illinois gun shop is holding a benefit raffle for victims of the Orlando mass shooting. The grand prize? An AR-15 rifle, similar to the one used in the massacre.
Second Amendment Sports (yep, that's the shop's name) is selling the raffle tickets at $5 a piece, and they plan to hold the drawing on July, 31.
The owners say that no offense was intended.
"We wanted to do something for the loss of lives and injuries that happened to people in Orlando," co-owner Bert Irslinger Jr. told the Tribune.
Vic Santi, marketing director at the shop, hinted at what certainly appears to be the political motivation: that the issue is "terrorism," and not guns themselves—essentially the script we've been hearing ad nauseum since the gun-control debate reignited nationwide.
Chicagoist reached out to Second Amendment Sports for comment and was told that a press release was in the works. We will update this post with that information when it becomes available. We've also reached out to OneOrlando for comment.
The City of Orlando created the fund, but it operates under the umbrella of Strengthen Orlando, Inc., an independent non-profit. Heather Fagan, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Office of the Orlando Mayor, did not address how or if any forthcoming Second Amendment Sports donations might be allocated in an email with Chicagoist:
"The City is not organizing any of the fundraisers. In the hours after the Pulse tragedy the City was receiving numerous calls from corporations and people wanting to donate money to the victims. Because we had a 501c3 already established we dedicated a fund to be able to collect these donations to help the victims.The City has not organized any of the fundraising events and honestly there are so many happening it is not realistic for the City to be aware of them all."
Update, 5:30 p.m.:
Second Amendment Sports stated again in a press release they will make a $2000 base donation to the One Orlando Fund plus raffle proceeds. They also reiterated the anti-gun-reform talking point.
"We denounce terrorism on our soil in any way, shape or form and we're standing with American citizens and loved ones of the victims of this heinous act”, said Irslinger Jr. in the statement. "It's important for people to know how much our business supports all Americans against these types of acts. This isn't a gun issue, it's an anti-American issue."
Fagan, of the Orlando Mayor's office, also followed up. "This is the first questionable contribution we are aware of. We have not received a donation from them yet, if we were to we will evaluate then," she told Chicagoist.