Anti-Violence Group Decries ‘Tone Deaf’ Police Charity Gun Raffle
‘It’s disrespectful to the families,’ Unity in the Community’s founder, Aton Moore, says.
A Pennsylvania nonprofit police group’s charity raffle to honor fallen officers that includes guns is upsetting the leader of an anti-gun violence charity.
The Philadelphia chapter of the Law Enforcement Memorial Run charity is holding the raffle in conjunction with an annual charity run. Its top prize is a Springfield Saint 5.56, a semi-automatic AR-style weapon. Second prize is a Sig Sauer P365XL pistol, which is marketed as “the perfect balance of concealment and shootability.” Third prize is a Glock 43X pistol with a 10-round magazine capacity that “makes it ideal for concealed carry.”
The founder of Unity in the Community, which does community work in Philadelphia, has called the raffle “tone deaf” because of all of the deadly gun violence in the city. “It’s disrespectful to the families,” Aton Moore tells Axios. “Their legacies are much, much more than a gun raffle.”
The raffle is being held in conjunction with an annual 3-day run between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., to honor police officers who have died in the line of duty. It takes place May 12 to May 14 as part of National Police Week.
The auction raises money for the Philadelphia chapter of the charity. Axios says that this is the fourth year of the gun raffle, but this appears to be the first time that anyone has complained publicly.
The raffle stipulates that only Pennsylvania residents who can lawfully own firearms are eligible for the gun prizes. Anyone else will be given a cash prize.
A spokesman for the group declined to comment on the prizes to The New York Sun except to say the fundraising was aimed at “our close relationships with our friends, families, and brothers and sisters within the law enforcement community.”
The Philadelphia charity is not alone in holding a gun raffle to support law enforcement. The Ohio-based charity Police Pictures, which tries to humanize law enforcement officers, has raffled AR-style rifles and other guns.
Controversy over the prizes has ended other raffles. The Columbia, Missouri Police Officers’ Association ended promotion of a gun raffle on Facebook after public outcry.
Another Missouri police association canceled plans to raffle off an AR-15 rifle because of mass shootings. The Belton Police Athletic Association was holding an annual fundraiser supporting anti-drug education in schools, the Associated Press reported.
