Only on Flag Day.
The gun is safer. The others play part in far more untimely deaths.
So someone goes to a gun show and is too poor to afford to buy a quality gun, and instead purchases a raffle ticket for 2$. That person wins the gun, and you have a problem with it, but you wouldn’t have a problem with it if that person ponied up 500$ all by him or herself to buy the gun, even though they will have to fill out exactly the same paperwork and pass the exact same background check whether they bought that gun for 2$ or 500$.
Should they not be allowed to own a gun because they’re poor?
Okay, I’m going to chime in on the other side of this argument. While everything that’s been said is valid, and putting this particular gun into circulation in this way does not make anyone less safe, I do think that it’s irresponsible to raffle off a gun.
I know that the individual winner will be subject to all the checks and scrutiny applied to any gun owner and he personally is entitled to own one. But I think that the concept of a gun raffle to a certain extent implies unhealthy things about gun ownership: That it’s not a big deal and that it’s not something that requires careful consideration and forethought, that it’s something that can be taken lightly.
Even though the winner of this particular gun in a raffle is not less qualified to own one than anyone who might purchase a gun in the usual way, I think the existence of these raffles in general signifies and helps perpetuate a disturbing attitude about gun ownership in this country.
Yes, I live in a state without a strong “gun culture,” and this probably affects my views. But still. Owning a gun is something that people should approach with thought and trepidation.
I am so far in favor of gun control it’s silly. While I have little problem with *ownership *of guns I have major, major problems with *carrying of guns and hate concealed carry laws. I say this so you know where I stand when I say what else would they raffle off at a gun show but guns? I think that’s kind of cool. As someone else mentioned, no way would we put aside money to buy a gun; it just isn’t necessary but winning one? That would be cool.
No problems here.
*I know, it’s supposed to be only for people who need it.
I would have a problem with including a gun in a Raffle with a bunch of other, unrelated prizes, especially in a non Gun Show context.
Example: At a booth at the State Fair
Grand Prize: One Week, all expenses paid, vacation in Hawaii
First Prize: New Carpet for your entire house
Second Prize: New entertainment System
Third Prize: New Gun
Fourth Prize: Year’s supply of donuts-- or maybe toilet paper
Other prizes: (so that 1 in 10 or so wins, high enough so that lots of people might buy a ticket because so many people will get a prize) 1 Free soft drink, 1 bag M&M’s, Free admission to a movie, etc.
There I have a problem with raffling a gun, because the raffle is set up in such a way that someone who didn’t expect to win, but liked the idea of the non-gun prizes is likely to buy a ticket, and one of them might win the gun. Thus putting someone who never expected to actually acquire a gun in the position of possibly owning one and needing to make arrangements. Not that that’s the end of the world, but I do support measures which make acquiring guns something difficult to do on impulse.
In the context of the thread in MPSIMS, only people with some interest in owning a gun are likely to be around for the raffle. Sure, one might still win despite not really wanting a gun, because one expects that so many other people might buy tickets, but I’d be surprised if there isn’t some way of allowing people to change their mind before acquiring the gun–even if it’s just not completing the forms needed for the background check.
I’m not neccessarily in favor of Raffling a gun, but I’d have to admit that it is mostly due to my general stance on guns, not because a raffle is a particularly irresponsible way of transferring ownership of a gun.
In my experience, guns are usually the top prize if they are raffled. I’ve never seen a handgun as a prize–it’s usually a shotgun, sometimes a rifle. If the winner does not want the gun, or for that matter even if he or she does, but is subject to pressure from the sponsor, it is not at all uncommon to donate the gun back to the charity so that it can be raffled again.
Makes sense to me( I have very little knowledge or interest in guns) , satisfies my desires to have raffles with guns as prizes not treat the gun casually, and confirms my suspicion that there is a procdure for the new winner who thinks “Crap! Now I’ve won a gun I can’t reasonably/responsibly own. I just wanted to donate money, have the thrill of almost winning”
Why is raffling a gun any less responsible than simply selling one? In the MPSIMS thread Lumpy mentions the “enormous amount” of paperwork he has to fill out, just like any other gun purchaser. Presumably the lottery winner will be legible to own a handgun–not a convicted felon or whatever. It’s just a sale, and far less sketchy and more regulated than a lot of private gun transactions.
I shouldn’t have put “enormous amount” in quotes. I thought it was in Lumpy’s OP but it wasn’t.
Apologies Jim for not giving more info, I can see it would be different if raffled under other circumstances. I don’t have any suggestions as to what could be raffled instead. To me it seems to be irresponsible to treat a firearm in this way.
And gosh, people don’t usually call me by my middle name!
I think you’ve voiced my concerns here better than I have done.
Oakminster - this makes me feel a lot better about the whole idea and shows that the sponsors may feel the need to pressure the winner into returning his prize because they feel it to be an inappropriate win.
Off topic but a similar situation - at our Tip a Snake banquet to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network last season, each guest was given a foam rubber puck with a number on it. You stopped by a table to register your number with your name, and at a designated point in the festivites everyone threw their pucks on the ice hoping to get closest to the spot designated to win a $2,500 ring. (I got second closest and won a really cool gold and silver snake bracelet.) The young man (about 17, I think) who won the ring (a women’s ring) donated it back to be raffled off at the remaining home games. So an additional $600 or so was raised for the charity.
I think a gun raffle is appropriate at certain events. Most people who don’t want a gun wouldn’t buy the raffle ticket in the first place, and the winner still has to comply with local laws regarding gun ownership. No one is forced to buy a raffle ticket!
NO, NO, A thousand times NO. You’re just not getting it. In my part of the world…the American South, guns are an accepted part of our culture. They are so common, almost everyone I know has at least one, including the little old ladies at the bridge club where I used to play. There is absolutely nothing in any way wrong or innapropriate about owning a gun, raffling one as a prize, or any other lawful use of a gun. If anything, your attitude about the whole thing would be seen as more than a little strange to most, and utterly incomprehensible to many.
The thing about being pressured to give the gun back is purely about money. The charity makes more money if they can raffle the same gun twice.
Doesn’t this just mean your concerns have always been about gun ownership in general and not just raffling them?
Oakminster “If anything, your attitude about the whole thing would be seen as more than a little strange to most, and utterly incomprehensible to many.”
Who are you speaking for here?
I had a physical gut reaction to the original post about winning a gun in a raffle not old ladies or anyone else owning a gun, but to the means of arriving at that ownership. I have not been exposed to American south gun culture and I’m trying to clear up a little ignorance on my part.
I have used both hand guns in a range in the US and also as a sailor. In port the guns must be locked in the safe or handed to customs to be returned when we set sail. On reaching international waters I have cleaned various guns and had a bit of target practise with empty wine bottles we’d throw out from the boat. I may well purchase a gun myself following an unpleasant break in to my home last year.
Shouldn’t this OP be in IMHO?
I see nothing resembling debate or great.
And saw this as the basis of a Great Debate?
It was suggested that I take up this topic either on Great Debates or In My Humble Opinion, maybe it should be in Humble Opinons but it hasn’t been moved there so far. Frankly it does seem to be going round and round so I’m rounding out! Thanks to all who took part.