Police in Watsonville, California, need a new K-9. Their current dog Ellix is overworked. To help raise the $20,000 needed to purchase a new pup the Watsonville Police Station is holding a gun raffle this Saturday evening.
Well, some residents are up in arms over the idea that the police are raffling off a .22 caliber rifle, several handguns and a taser.
“It seems ludicrous. We just had a double homicide in Watsonville,” complained Linda Bartlett, who was referencing a gang-related shooting that resulted in the death of one gang member and a 4-year-old girl who was tragically caught in the crossfire, to KSBW.
Likewise, resident Dean Coley said, “Wow! I think that’s crazy, I am surprised. Why do we want more firearms and more Tasers out on the street? I don’t see why they would choose something like that. It seems inappropriate to me. What about Giants tickets?”
But police defended the raffle, saying that the crowd is “police friendly” and the winners will undergo a background check, complete paperwork and wait the required 10-day waiting period before obtaining the firearm.
“This is a charity event put on by a nonprofit made up of mostly community members. The idea is to raise funds for a police K-9 team,” explained Police Chief Manny Solano. “The department lacks funds for this vital crime fighting team that costs $20,000. Keep in mind this will be a police friendly/supportive crowd with folks who are trained in firearm safety.”
Watsonville Police Assistance Fund president Cory Stephanson echoed those remarks.
“I truly, wholehearted understand the issues of gun violence,” Stephanson said.
“A majority of the attendees will either be law enforcement or closely knit within the law enforcement community. As a federally-licensed firearms dealer myself, I fully appreciate the intricacies of offering firearms or other tactical goods as raffle items,” Stephanson told KSBW.
It goes without saying but those who oppose gun raffles are fools. There is no danger in giving away firearms to responsible, law-abiding citizens. What is dangerous is this pathological insistence from brain-dead hoplophobes that more firearms equates to higher crime. It’s the propagation of this untruth that leads the non-gun owning public to lean in the direction of draconian gun-control reform, which of course leads to civil disarmament, which in turn leads to a population that is helpless in the face of tyranny, not only from gangsters, carjackers and other criminals, but from the biggest existential threat to a civilized society, the government.
Is this a filler ? Why do we need to read a 2yr old article?
I have nothing against the raffle per say,but if the wrong person gets a firearm ,dey gonna have a lot of splainin to do..How about raffle an RV that anyone can use and have a dealer donate.A pup costs 20 grand???? Come on Gov!