A Florida charter school raffled off guns as part of a month-long effort to raise money for the school, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
Officials at James Madison Preparatory High School sold $100 tickets to give winners a chance to take home one of several prizes including fishing and hunting gear, handguns and semi-automatic rifles including a VSKA Tactical AK 47. It is not clear if the school conducted background checks on the winners before transferring the weapon.
Winners were announced on a Facebook live stream by Assistant Principal Patrick White who picked the individual’s name out of a raffle drum. On Wednesday, the school held its grand prize draw, giving away a Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen, a semi-automatic shotgun.
The school took a break from the raffle last Tuesday after 19 children and two teachers were slaughtered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
“Out of respect for these tragic events, we will not have a raffle drawing this morning. We will resume raffle drawings on Tuesday, May 31. God bless each of you and your families,” principal Mark Akerman wrote in a Facebook post
“Giveaways like this emphasize the need for background checks on all gun sales and transfers,” Nancy Fry, a volunteer for the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action told the Tallahassee Democrat. “This giveaway does not promote safe gun ownership, which should go hand in hand with hunting and with sport shooting. This is just an unnecessary abdication of a school’s duty to keep their students and community safe.”
Akerman told Insider that the guns that were used in the raffle “are owned by a local sporting goods store,” and that raffle winners “report directly to the store where background checks are applied for according to state and federal regulation.”
Sellers who are not licensed dealers are not required to conduct a background check before transferring the weapon under Florida law.
