The Chicago-area gun shop has called off its raffle of an AR-15 assault rifle to benefit victims of the Orlando shooting, the Chicago Tribune reports. But it’s not due to public backlash or an “ah-ha” moment about the appropriateness of raffling a gun so similar to the one used to kill and injure victims of the attack at the Pulse nightclub.
No, the owners of Second Amendment Sports in McHenry, Illinois, cancelled the raffle because they were concerned it might not be legal. The state’s raffle rules only permit them to be conducted by nonprofit organizations, in an effort to curb illegal gambling.
Whatever the reason for the raffles cancelation, friends of the victims are relieved to hear it.
“I applaud them for wanting to do good,”Jason Mendes-McAllister, a friend of Orlando victim Edward Sotomayor Jr., told the Chicago Tribune. “But what they’re utilizing to raise funds is insensitive to those trying to recover or who have lost people. You’re rubbing salt in other people’s wounds.”
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But the raffle may not be off for good. The store owners say they are looking into partnering with nonprofit to do the raffle right and will continue to accept donations to support the victims.
