Pima County, Ariz., is home to Tucson, where Jared Loughner allegedly used a Glock handgun in January to kill six people and wound 14 others — including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D). Now, the Pima County Republican Party is causing quite a stir thanks to its late August newsletter, which touts a rather ill-conceived fundraiser: The auction of a Glock handgun. Pima GOP interim chairman Mike Shaw is defending the raffle, noting that Giffords herself owned a Glock, and arguing that Loughner — and not his gun — was responsible for the shooting. Still, critics maintain that the raffle is shockingly "tone deaf." Is it?
The Pima GOP should be ashamed: Raffling off "an updated version of the same weapon" Loughner allegedly used to shoot Giffords is "beyond foul," says Andrew Belonsky at Death + Taxes. This demonstration of "completely terrible taste" is also poorly timed, since Giffords was just granted permission to use campaign funds for additional security at her home. Really, how on Earth did the Pima GOP fail to see "the dangerous subtext in and potential ramifications" of its Glock raffle?
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