Gun shop cancels raffle of AR-15 rifle for Orlando victims

Second Amendment Sports (yes, really) has chose to raise funds for the victims of last month’s Orlando nightclub massacre.by raffling off an AR-15 rifle.

Unexpectedly, a gun shop has announced plans to raffle off a gun to benefit the victims of the Orlando Pulse mass shooting.

Irslinger Jr. had said he made a decision to raffle the gun because he wanted to support the victims of the massacre and felt that, of all the products he sells, the AR-15 would attract the most interest.

“We wanted to do something for the loss of lives and injuries that happened to people in Orlando”, store co-owner Bert Irslinger Jr, told Chicago Tribune, which broke the story. 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. “Essentially, we don’t look at this as a gun issue”.

Kathleen Larimer, whose son was killed with the 2012 attack on an Aurora, Co. movie theater, which also used a semi-automatic gun, told The Tribune that the raffle was offensive.

Colleen Daley, the executive director of the Chicago-based Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, called the raffle “offensive”. “I just hope they’re finding their own way to support”.

He said the store could partner with a not-for-profit organization to conduct the raffle in the future. “They should be taken seriously”.

Needless to say, the gun shop has received a ton of heat.

Proceeds will benefit OneOrlando Fund, which is run by not-for-profit group Strengthen Orlando Inc to help victims of the tragedy.

“It seems unclear to me how they could be doing a raffle”, he said of the gun shop raffle before it was called off. Irslinger, Jr. and his father operate the suburban gun store located about 50 miles from Chicago.

The shop plans to announce the victor of the raffle next month.

People on the store’s Facebook wall were mixed in their reactions to the raffle prize.