A screenshot from the Facebook page of the Washington Heights Athletic Association.
The Washington Heights Athletic Association’s decision to include a potent rifle as a fundraiser prize has some in the neighborhood and beyond questioning the message that sends.
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The raffle of an AR-15 by a youth athletic organization in Mount Washington has ignited community concerns about the appropriateness of including a potentially lethal prize in a fundraiser meant to benefit school-aged kids.
The Washington Heights Athletic Association organizes baseball and soccer teams for youths ages 7 to 12, according to its website. The group advertised on Facebook and on its website a “2024 W.H.A.A. Memorial Day Super Ticket” raffle to support field renovations, with prizes including:
- $3,000 in cash
- A $1,500 purse gift card
- A “Custom AR 15 chambered in caliber of your choice” provided by Gunnys Gunz. The winner of the rifle has the option to accept $500 in cash instead.
The offerings — which were removed from the WHAA’s Facebook page and website after PublicSource inquired about them — struck Mount Washington resident Ken Gianella as poorly thought-through.
“I don’t think it’s an appropriate prize for a youth athletic association considering all of the high school slaughters across the nation,” said Gianella, who is the president of the Mike Creighton Memorial Fund, which donates to the WHAA. Kids killed in mass shootings, he said, “are never going to have a chance to play ball.”
Organizers of the WHAA did not immediately respond to PublicSource’s requests for comment, but defended their decision on Facebook.
“Why is it a bad look? Is it illegal to own an AR-15?” wrote Matt Smith, the WHAA’s president, in response to comments critical of the choice of prize. “I am not sure what makes it inappropriate. Some people find games of chance inappropriate. Some find gambling in general inappropriate. I appreciate the feedback but completely disagree.”
Gun raffles neither illegal nor uncommon
There’s nothing illegal about raffling a rifle, according to Marc D. Daffner, an attorney who often handles gun law cases.
Handgun transfers must be processed through federally licensed firearms dealers, said Daffner, but that doesn’t apply to long guns like the AR-15.
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