A New York gun shop owner who was simply trying to help his daughter’s school volleyball team raise money for the upcoming season has come under anti-gun attack from several directions.
Joe Oliver, who runs JJ Armory in Riverhead, announced plans to raffle a Ruger firearm in late September, with funds raised going to the Riverhead High School varsity volleyball team, which includes his daughter. However, according to a report at newsday.com, school officials have decried the raffle and pledged that they won’t accept the money because it would be raised through a gun raffle.
“Under no circumstances would the district ever sanction any event to raise funds for a district sports team or program that involves the offering of firearms or any weapon as a prize,” a statement released by the school said. “In addition, the district logo was used without the district’s permission, which is against district policy. The district has reached out to the business owner to strongly convey our position on this matter and to ensure our teams are not used for such marketing purposes by the company in the future. No funds that may be raised in this unsanctioned raffle will be accepted by the district.”
School administrators, particularly in New York, tend to be anti-gun to the core. But one has to wonder what the problem is with a simple gun raffle to help a volleyball team pay for travel and other expenses. The raffle gun, a Ruger pistol-caliber carbine, would only be transferred to the winner after passing the FBI background check. Oliver was never going to just hand the gun to whoever won the raffle without following all applicable local, state and federal gun laws.
Despite the setback, Oliver said he intends to continue with the raffle and still plans to donate the funds. After the school district released its statement, he removed the school logo from the promotion.
Unfortunately, the State Gaming Commission is now also looking for its pound of flesh from Oliver, claiming that he cannot legally raffle the firearm. According to Gaming Commission spokesman Brad Maione, state law says only “religious, charitable and nonprofit organizations” are allowed to hold games and raffles to raise funds for charitable endeavors.
“This entity is not authorized,” Maione said in response to a question from newsweek.com. “Any operation of a raffle [by an unauthorized company] is considered unlawful—even if well-intentioned.”
Because of the pressure, whether or not the raffle will actually be held remains to be seen. One thing is for sure: The Riverside High School volleyball team won’t be receiving some funding they could have put to good use if the school district hadn’t engaged in its ridiculous, virtue-signaling anti-gun activism that makes nobody safer.
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