Anti Federalist
01-19-2013, 04:20 PM
OK AF, put aside your bias and cynicism...bite your tongue, bite your tongue...
Folks, buy these raffle tickets, (whoops, nvm, sold out - :D ) and support NH Police Chiefs Association.
N.H. police chiefs criticized for gun prizes in raffle
Raffling rifles in the age of Newtown; first prize: an assault weapon
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new-hampshire/2013/01/19/police-chiefs-criticized-for-gun-prizes-raffle/3Fgz6JjEzMsCA9CAPOmXWJ/story.html
The first of 31 prizes scheduled to be raffled by New Hampshire police chiefs in May has a retail value of $1,995. It also has folding iron sights, a collapsible stock, and weighs 7.4 pounds, according to the manufacturer’s website.
The winner, chosen from 1,000 entrants in the sold-out contest, will walk away with a military-style assault rifle that closely resembles the weapon used to massacre 20 first-graders and six adults in Newtown, Conn.
The raffle, which will give away a firearm every day in May, has unleashed a growing storm of criticism against the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police. That group, critics say, is acting with tone-deaf insensitivity while memories of the Newtown killings remain painfully fresh.
In addition to the first day’s prize — a Ruger SR-556 semiautomatic carbine that holds 30-round magazines — the police chiefs will give away other semiautomatic assault rifles, bolt-action hunting rifles, and semiautomatic and single-shot handguns to benefit a New Hampshire law-enforcement training academy for 14- to 20-year-olds.
“There’s nothing wrong with what the chiefs are doing,” said state Representative Al Baldasaro, a Republican from Londonderry who helped write the state’s “stand your ground” law, which allows those who feel threatened to use force to protect themselves. “The only ones who are saying it’s insensitive are these liberals out there who want to take away your guns. The shooting in Newtown had nothing to do with law-abiding citizens.”
Some critics, however, are outraged by the content and the timing of the raffle.
“It’s disgusting that any law-enforcement agency would be voluntarily giving away military-style weapons,” said John Rosenthal, founder of Stop Handgun Violence, a gun-control group based in Newton, Mass. “This raffle giveaway should be canceled and shame on the New Hampshire Police Chiefs Association if they don’t.”
The police chiefs group, however, has not backed down. Anne Dalton, the association’s executive director, said this week that the raffle will proceed as planned.
“While this raffle falls on the heels of the recent tragedy in Newtown, Conn., the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police extends their deepest sympathies to the families and first responders,” the group’s president, Police Chief Paul T. Donovan of Salem, N.H., said in a statement. “New Hampshire Chiefs of Police feel the issues with these tragic shootings are ones that are contrary to lawful and responsible gun ownership.”
Donovan did not return telephone calls for comment this week. Other chiefs declined comment, deferring to the association president.
Although New Hampshire does not require a license to purchase or possess a gun, background checks will be performed as required by law when the winners pick up their firearms at an authorized dealer, according to the association website.
On that website, the chiefs association touts “31 chances to win some of today’s most popular New Hampshire-made sporting firearms.” Raffle tickets cost $30 each.
Sturm, Ruger & Co., which has a manufacturing plant in Newport, N.H., and Sig Sauer, based in Exeter, N.H., have provided firearms for the raffle, which will be held at Rody’s Gun Shop in Newport, N.H. A Sig Sauer handgun was one of three weapons carried by Adam Lanza, the Newtown assailant, in the Dec. 14 shooting spree at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
At the top of Sturm Ruger’s website, a banner proclaims: “Protect your rights! Gun rights are under attack. We, the silent majority, need to speak up now and make sure our voice is heard to protect our rights.”
Officials from the gun manufacturers did not return telephone calls for comment.
Folks, buy these raffle tickets, (whoops, nvm, sold out - :D ) and support NH Police Chiefs Association.
N.H. police chiefs criticized for gun prizes in raffle
Raffling rifles in the age of Newtown; first prize: an assault weapon
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new-hampshire/2013/01/19/police-chiefs-criticized-for-gun-prizes-raffle/3Fgz6JjEzMsCA9CAPOmXWJ/story.html
The first of 31 prizes scheduled to be raffled by New Hampshire police chiefs in May has a retail value of $1,995. It also has folding iron sights, a collapsible stock, and weighs 7.4 pounds, according to the manufacturer’s website.
The winner, chosen from 1,000 entrants in the sold-out contest, will walk away with a military-style assault rifle that closely resembles the weapon used to massacre 20 first-graders and six adults in Newtown, Conn.
The raffle, which will give away a firearm every day in May, has unleashed a growing storm of criticism against the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police. That group, critics say, is acting with tone-deaf insensitivity while memories of the Newtown killings remain painfully fresh.
In addition to the first day’s prize — a Ruger SR-556 semiautomatic carbine that holds 30-round magazines — the police chiefs will give away other semiautomatic assault rifles, bolt-action hunting rifles, and semiautomatic and single-shot handguns to benefit a New Hampshire law-enforcement training academy for 14- to 20-year-olds.
“There’s nothing wrong with what the chiefs are doing,” said state Representative Al Baldasaro, a Republican from Londonderry who helped write the state’s “stand your ground” law, which allows those who feel threatened to use force to protect themselves. “The only ones who are saying it’s insensitive are these liberals out there who want to take away your guns. The shooting in Newtown had nothing to do with law-abiding citizens.”
Some critics, however, are outraged by the content and the timing of the raffle.
“It’s disgusting that any law-enforcement agency would be voluntarily giving away military-style weapons,” said John Rosenthal, founder of Stop Handgun Violence, a gun-control group based in Newton, Mass. “This raffle giveaway should be canceled and shame on the New Hampshire Police Chiefs Association if they don’t.”
The police chiefs group, however, has not backed down. Anne Dalton, the association’s executive director, said this week that the raffle will proceed as planned.
“While this raffle falls on the heels of the recent tragedy in Newtown, Conn., the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police extends their deepest sympathies to the families and first responders,” the group’s president, Police Chief Paul T. Donovan of Salem, N.H., said in a statement. “New Hampshire Chiefs of Police feel the issues with these tragic shootings are ones that are contrary to lawful and responsible gun ownership.”
Donovan did not return telephone calls for comment this week. Other chiefs declined comment, deferring to the association president.
Although New Hampshire does not require a license to purchase or possess a gun, background checks will be performed as required by law when the winners pick up their firearms at an authorized dealer, according to the association website.
On that website, the chiefs association touts “31 chances to win some of today’s most popular New Hampshire-made sporting firearms.” Raffle tickets cost $30 each.
Sturm, Ruger & Co., which has a manufacturing plant in Newport, N.H., and Sig Sauer, based in Exeter, N.H., have provided firearms for the raffle, which will be held at Rody’s Gun Shop in Newport, N.H. A Sig Sauer handgun was one of three weapons carried by Adam Lanza, the Newtown assailant, in the Dec. 14 shooting spree at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
At the top of Sturm Ruger’s website, a banner proclaims: “Protect your rights! Gun rights are under attack. We, the silent majority, need to speak up now and make sure our voice is heard to protect our rights.”
Officials from the gun manufacturers did not return telephone calls for comment.