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High school gun raffle has Texas lawmakers concerned

GEORGETOWN, Texas, June 9 (UPI) -- A high school football booster club in Georgetown, Texas, is raffling off 52 firearms in an effort to raise $25,000 for the team, booster members said.

The fundraising effort is raising some eyebrows among area lawmakers about the wisdom of linking guns to school organizations, after 20 students and six staff were killed Dec. 14 in a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman reported Saturday.

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"How wise is this to use guns to raise funds when we know children in other schools have been murdered?" said Karen Carter, the chairwoman of the Williamson County Democratic Party.

"I will say the nature of this raffle makes me wonder if the boosters are truly interested in fundraising or making a political statement," said Georgetown City Council Member Rachael Jonrowe. "There's a big difference between the cheerleaders selling popcorn and poinsettias and raffling off guns."

Tickets -- $100 each -- are being sold only by adult members of the booster club to other adults and no more than 500 tickets will be sold and each week, for 52 weeks.

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The club will draw names beginning this fall determine winners of shotguns, handguns and semiautomatics.

"Texas is full of hunters, and you try to take advantage of that marketing opportunity," booster President Andy Haas said. "The fall's a perfect time, right before dove season."

Winners must undergo typical background checks before taking the guns home, the newspaper said.

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