Gun Raffle Fundraiser Gets Criticism from Students

A gun raffle is not how former students want to see money raised for their school and they want people to know why.

A Georgia high school soccer team is raffling 30 guns off for a sports benefit and former students are voicing their concern and opposition. The Macon Telegraph reports that former Dodge County High School students are unhappy with the mechanism used to raise money for uniforms and out of town trips.

“I was kind of bothered by it, the audacity of it all, especially in this day and age,” Lena Smith Nations told The Telegraph.

The raffle is in compliance with the law and requires winners to pass a background check in order to claim the prize, but former students are still contacting the media to make their voices heard. Opponents say it isn’t something the school should be associated with.

Alumna Crystal Velasquez told the Macon Telegraph, “To me, it’s a matter of what the school needs to be associated with.”

Supporters of the gun raffle say it was a quick way to earn a good amount of money, eventually bringing in $30,000 if all of the tickets are sold. The concept of raffling guns at schools is not uncommon and was mostly recently used in Telfair and Wilcox counties as well.

In the raffle, 1,000 tickets will be sold at $30 each. Each ticket has three numbers, and winners will be picked based on the Georgia Lottery Cash 3 daily drawing.