20 Dec 2012 4:47 pm
Asheville North Carolina Tea Party Group Raffling Off Semi-Automatic Weapon Similar To The One Used In Newtown ShootingAn Asheville chapter of the Tea Party is offering North Carolina residents a chance to win a rifle similar to that which was reportedly used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.The Asheville Tea Party posted the raffle for a DPMS Panther Oracle AR-15 to its website Monday. The raffle is only available to residents of North Carolina and winners must "be able to pass all required background checks."The semi-automatic weapon also comes with two 30-round "clips and a carrying case." The group says the prize package is worth more than $1,500.Dubbed the "Great Gun Giveaway" from "patriotic Americans," residents can also win a Keltec PMR-30 .22 Magnum with a 30-round clip. The gun retails for $415, the groups says.The raffle comes just days after 20-year-old Adam Lanza opened fire in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., killing 20 children and eight adults.Lanza is believed to have used a Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle, a civilian version of the military's M-16. It is similar to the weapon used in a recent shopping mall shooting in Oregon and other deadly attacks around the U.S.Fremont V. Brown III, vice-chairman of the Asheville Tea Party, said the raffle was "planned before the tragedy in Connecticut took place."[....]Earlier this year, the Asheville Tea Party hosted a "Machine Gun Social" at a Brevard shooting range, inviting attendees to give donations in exchange for machine gun rounds. The money raised went to candidates endorsed by the Asheville Tea PAC.I guess cancelling or at least postponing the raffle was out of the question.