If you listen closely, you might be able to make out the faint howls of protest from gun control activists in Georgia on the wind. If not, just wait a day or two and I’m sure the Atlanta news media will be covering the outrage from anti-gunners on television and in the local papers. I don’t expect that their objections will put an end to the gun raffle hosted by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, but it should be amusing to watch.
In a video posted to the department’s Facebook page, Sheriff Terry Langley says that this isn’t the first time the department has put on a gun raffle. The last go-round was “very successful” according to Langley, and allowed the department to fund community programs that aren’t an official part of the county’s budget, including a summer camp for kids between the ages of 7 and 12.
The Children spend the week participating in educational activities that are designed to teach them about the law enforcement and public service career fields while providing fun filled activities.
… The Sheriff’s Youth Camp is designed to build partnerships with children and their families by exposing this “at risk” age group to skills that will benefit their futures either by entering the law enforcement career field or through learning positive leadership skills and being active in the community. Children are the future to the world and they are most impressionable when they are young and as they enter their teenage years. By educating them on leadership, team work, and being active in the community Sheriff’s Langley’s Youth Camp can help to protect our children and our future.
The 30 guns that will be raffled off include several hunting rifles and shotguns as well as personal defense handguns from Glock, Springfield, Smith & Wesson, and Taurus. Tickets are $100 each and are limited to just 500 in total, but every ticket will be included in each day’s drawing and participants have the opportunity to win more than one firearm. Participants must be 21-years-old to enter, and every winner will have to undergo a background check before their prizes are released to them.
Even with those restrictions in place the department’s Facebook post is already starting to receive some snarky comments about “putting more guns out in the public” and accusing the sheriff of raising “blood money” with the raffle. As it turns out, however, Carroll County looks to be a pretty safe place to live. According to the local non-profit Carroll Tomorrow the county’s crime rates are already below the national average, and 30 law-abiding citizens obtaining 30 firearms in a raffle isn’t going to change that for the worse.
If I didn’t live so far away I’d gladly purchase a raffle ticket or two. It sounds like the proceeds will benefit a good cause, and there are quite a few firearms on the raffle list that I’d be happy to add to my collection. Given the support for the Second Amendment in Georgia, it probably won’t be long before all 500 tickets are sold… especially if anti-gunners take their complaints to the media and end up giving the raffle some free publicity.