Talk about a killer gimmick.
An Arizona Republican fundraiser is offering as a prize the same type of gun used in the attempted assassination of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
On August 26 the Pima County Republican Party sent out its regular online newsletter, e-Tracks [PDF]. It contained your standard newsletterisms - an intro from the chairman, a description of local candidates, a calendar of upcoming events, and so on. But this particular issue also featured an eye-catching giveaway to raise money for GOTV (Get Out the Vote) efforts.
For just $10, readers can purchase a raffle ticket (out of 125 offered) for a chance to win a brand new handgun. Not just any handgun, but a Glock 23
Arizona Republicans surely know just how effective this particular brand of gun can be. After all, it was only eight months ago that Jared Lee Loughner used a Glock 19 in Tucson - the seat of Pima County - to shoot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the head. Giffords survived, but six other people, including a nine year old girl and a federal judge, were killed in the same shooting.
The raffle gun comes preloaded with adjustable grips, a case, and three 12-round magazines. Glock USA describes the model as "a slightly reduced size of a full-size handgun for easier concealment but still retains the performance on the level of a serious big bore."
Let's see... with 125 tickets, at $10 a ticket, the PCRP could pull in a cool $1,250 - minus whatever their souls are worth, of course.
The office of the Pima County Republican Party has confirmed that they are raffling the Glock.
Congresswoman Giffords' office had no comment, according to Interim District Office Coordinator Rodd McLeod.
The Arizona GOP has said it won't campaign to have Giffords removed from office before the 2012 election.
But at some point they're going to have to run somebody. So how do you field a candidate against a beloved incumbent who also happens to be a national hero?
"Many of us know Gabby and we're all praying for her continued recovery," PCRP vice chairman Mike Shaw told FoxNews.com. "The whole thing was horrible and that adds a lot of sensitivity to the seat."
Speaking of sensitivity - you have no idea how sensitive the trigger is on this sweet baby we're raffling! All the easier to fire those 36 bullets you'll get in those three magazines. Loughner only got off 32 shots. Think you can do better? Then give us your money.
Special thanks to Dawn Teo for the tip on this news item. This story was written as part of the Huffington Post's Off the Bus coverage of the 2012 election season by citizen journalists. If you would like to contribute to this project, sign up at offthebus.org
Follow Alex Brant-Zawadzki on Twitter: www.twitter.com/beezling
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
http://tinyurl.com/3tj4gw4
Either way, gun owners are not as a rule Tea Party 'gunophile fetishists'.
Just felt obliged to point that out.
Mockery and hypocrisy is the practiced tone. The poster comments against regulation of lethal weapons. This is one of his "socks."
I find it weird for a Congressman to be raffling off handguns, like they're some sort of door-prize. Period.
What struck me as newsworthy was that a) A Democratic Tucson Congresswoman was shot in the head by a man wielding a Glock, b) Tucson Republicans chose to raffle off a Glock to raise money to campaign against, among others, the Democratic Tucson Congresswoman.
Poor taste.
I didn't expect the scope of the reaction. I was just poking fun.
Regardless, the issue raised by this article is the BRAND of firearm, not the fact that it is a firearm. In fact that author has admitted clearly, several times, that had any other brand been raffled off, he would not object.
Yep, a dastardly Glock 23. The same dastardly Glock 23 that is used by countless law-enforcement officers, municipal, state, and federal, all over the US.
Not that it matters, but Rep. Giffords was shot with Glock 19. Different gun, but people like the author know zip about firearms. Why sacrifice a perfectly good, fear-mongering rant for the sake of accuracy?
"The raffle gun comes preloaded with adjustable grips, a case, and three 12-round magazines."
'Preloaded'?
Gee Alex, you wouldn't be trying to make the public think the dastardly Glock is so dastardly, that it actually comes "preloaded" right out of the box, would you? Sure you would. You are almost dishonest enough to work for the Brady/VPC Group.
One loads a firearm with cartridges..............not adjustable grips.
And you people talk about the NRA using 'scare-tactics'.
And a belated 'how did you get back on Huffpo after being banned a hundred times?' to Fender Bender', aka 'Guffie', or Guffman'.
I look forward to your insulting the mods again. It's just a matter of time.
The least you could do is pay attention, before you snark.
I was speaking to the habitual lack of accuracy that is common among the anti-self defence crowd.
Oh, well, better late than never that a good gun be given to a good person, in service of self-defense.
You clearly do not have a firm grasp on the relevant statistics available on the background check system.
I feel empathy for Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of the shooting which wounded her, but pieces like this which hijack her tragedy in order to accomplish a political attack are tasteless in the extreme and cheapen the things that she stands for.
-Christina-Taylor Green, 9, of Tucson Green was accompanied to the meeting by neighbor Susan Hileman. Because her date of birth was September 11, 2001, she had appeared in the book Faces of Hope: Babies Born on 9/11. She was the granddaughter of former Major League Baseball player and manager Dallas Green
-Dorothy "Dot" Morris, 76, a retired secretary from Oro Valley; wife of George, who was wounded.
-John Roll, 63, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Arizona
-Phyllis Schneck, 79, homemaker from Tucson.
-Dorwan Stoddard, 76, retired construction worker, from a gunshot wound to the head; his wife Mavy was wounded
-Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman, 30, community outreach director for Giffords,and a member of Giffords' staff since 2006. Mr. Zimmerman was the first Congressional staffer killed in the line of duty.
Thirteen people were wounded in the attack; a fourteenth person was injured at the scene, but was determined not to have been shot. Gabrielle Giffords and two other members of her staff were among the surviving gunshot victims.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting
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I was taught to shoot by a Pima County policeman in the 90's. Practiced at their range alongside their men. I no longer have a weapon. My opposition to this raffle is about RESPECT AND SENSITIVITY to a vulnerable Community. GOT IT?
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2011/09/01/20110901arizona-gop-gun-raffle-politico.html
IMHO, the publicity condemning this event has done far more to cause mental anguish and trauma than the event itself.
Let's begin here: If we relinquish the fact that this was a GOP event or even the tragedy of a recent massacre in Tucson, a gun {IMHO} is still not an appropriate item to raffle for a political or charitable event. There are so many desirable choices to attract people to buy tickets in Pima County or anywhere USA. There are high-end resorts, personal services/spa's, retail items, art galleries, professional portraits and such that would be fine examples. I have participated in many organizations that have followed this protocol and they have been tremendously successful in fundraising and creating good will.
I will make one last point as this subject has made me rather sad and weary. There has been a certain tone on this thread ( and another one that refers to this Glock event) which is not reflective of good manners/blogging. When a poster comes on harshly, nothing good can come out of it except more division. I maintain if commenters show RESPECT on any issue, we can all share, learn and have a worthy experience. A humane one. That is exactly what your post has achieved for me today. Thank you.
Best,
-sb-
This particular Glock model, the Glock 23, is chambered for .40S&W and (with a barrel change, but not a chamber change) .357 Sig.
Alex Brant-Zawadzki
Journalist, researcher, politico, dork
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------Hey, if I could get a $500 gun for $10, I would. I LIKE guns. Really. Plan on buying a revolver once I can afford it. How else will I survive the Zombie Apocalypse---------
If you buy a revolver, be sure and do some research.
You would not want to end up buying the same brand of revolver that has ever been used in a murder. (I guess it would be OK with you if you buy the same brand that has been used to shoot zombies.......)
I am pretty sure that means that your conscience will not allow you to own one.
Would you buy a Glock?
I might buy a Glock. I mean, Glocks are great guns and they're popular for a reason.
But as far as my personal preferences, I'll probably go with a Colt or a Swint & Wesson or maybe even a Winchester. And I'll probably go for some sort of revolver. More my style, and for whatever reason I'm a better shot with revolvers.
When you walk into the door my apartment, the first thing you see is a range target from the first time I fired a hangun.
.38 special. Two shots were 8s, three were 9s, two 10s, and 5 bullseyes.
Considering that my first time firing an actual big-boy gun, I was pretty damn proud.
I am more of a bolt-action rifle kind of guy, all I know about Glocks is that I seem to be able to shoot them better than other kinds of handguns that I have tried. On the last hunting trip we went on, I fired three shots at rabbits at distances ranging from 10 to 30 yards. I was using a Glock model 23 and all three rabbits were very tasty.
Keep up your accuracy with lots of practice. You may want to get a .22 handgun also. I shoot mine (a Ruger) about 5 times more often than I shoot bigger calibers. It is cheaper to shoot and recoils less, allowing you to concentrate more on the mechanics of your shooting.
They do so because they think this is manufactured outrage, and part of their justification for that belief is because they think (or at least claim) the two guns are too dissimilar for anyone to draw a rational connection between them, and therefore it's irrational to compare the PCRP raffle to the Tucson shooting.
This is pretty irrelevant to the argument, as the issue is that both guns are Glocks, and while there's nothing wrong with Glocks, it's callous to auction one off in the same town where one was used to kill or wound a lot of people, not a lot of months ago.
Still ... the claim that the guns are different is DEMONSTRABLY, PATENTLY FALSE.
http://www.glock.com/english/glock23.htm
http://www.glock.com/english/glock19.htm
The two guns are visually identical. Also - same width. Same length. Same line of sight. Same trigger pull. Same barrel rifling.
Only differences:
23 magazine capacity = 13 bullets
19 magazine capacity = 15 bullets
19 weight (unloaded) = 595 grams
23 weight (unloaded) = 600 grams
23 caliber = .40
19 caliber = .355
2 bullets, 5 grams, 0.045 inches.
ZERO POINT ZERO FOUR FIVE
Regardless, from what you said earlier, your big beef is the name "Glock".
Thanks for catching the error. Regardless, the difference btw the two numbers is still the same.
My big beef isn't with Glocks per se. It's with the PCRP's decision to raffle off a Glock despite the fact that a Glock was used in the Tucson shooting and the community has yet to fully recover, for their own political, personal and pecuniary gain. That and some people's refusal to acknowledge that people have any kind of legitimate gripe with the raffle.
Take this scenario:
A Republican's child is molested by his caregiver and the caregiver takes child porn photos of him using a full size Nikon D3. A horrible act, disgusting in every way. Eight months later the Democratic party raffles off a Nikon D7000 to raise money to for their party in that area.
Would this be news!?!?! Would you call this the same camera? Both Nikons. Would you even be talking about the stupid camera used in the photo shoot or would we all be focused on the sick disgusting person that took the photos? Wouldn't a Cannon camera have done the same job?
Bottomline:
1. Your are reaching big time with this article.
2. Crimes are about PEOPLE.
Also, Gabby isn't a "national hero"...she's a VICTIM of a crazy mad man.
I applaud her in her recovery and I personally know people that've had to go the road of recovering from brain damage, it is a tough one and requires a lot of effort & determination. But, the HEROs in this story are the few people who tackled and stopped Jared Loughner from killing more people.
The Party of family values - demonstrating their absolute lack of compassion for the shooting victims, their families, and the Tuscon community.
The Party of fiscal responsibily - raises a paltry $1000 with a Glock raffle and creates $1,000,000 in ill will. The backlash from this will certainly create even larger contributions from the opposition.
The Party of "2nd ammendment solutions" - shoots self in foot.
Great jobs guys, keep up the good work.
“Your reliance on ad hominem arguments ... serves to show that you have no argument to use that isn't a logical fallacy."
As I demonstrate in the comment you criticize,what I actually RELY on are the facts. Like the fact that there are more similarities between the Glock .19 and the Glock .23 than there are differences.
People like you have no problem insinuating that I'm illogical, that I'm hateful, that I'm irrational, that I'm a bad reporter, that I'm a bad person, that I'm a liar, etc.
But I throw one or two pulled punches and you immediately clutch onto that, cry foul, and use it to conveniently ignore the merits of my argument.
Thin-skinned much?
I could retort that your utter and complete failure to address my assertion that the guns are more alike than they are different demonstrates a desperate effort to try and discredit me - with yet another insult.
You have nowhere to go and nothing to say. You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. You've demonstrated that all you have to fall back on are specious arguments and argumentative sleight-of-hand (like ignoring both my arguments and your previous ad hominem attacks and trying to make me out to be a thug).
Your previous statements have been shown to be false. False and misleading.
We're done here. Adiós para siempre.
It WAS a 'non-story' until you made it one.
Welcome to the Streisand Effect. The AZ GOP thanks you for your efforts.