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Rifle raffle triggers ruckus at Clemson
Independent student newspaper's editor hopes to raise money, awareness of 2nd Amendment
Published: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 6:00 am
By Ron Barnett
STAFF WRITER
[email protected]
CLEMSON -- An independent student newspaper at Clemson University that last week published Danish cartoons of Muhammad is sponsoring a drawing this week for an AK-47 assault rifle, stirring some student and faculty protests.
Andrew Davis, editor-in-chief of the conservative tabloid The Tiger Town Observer, said his purpose is to celebrate the Second Amendment's guarantee of the right to bear arms.
"The Second Amendment is probably one of the least respected amendments that we have, mainly because there's not enough education about firearms," the political science major from Surfside Beach said. "So we're hoping that this event will raise awareness for firearms and incite some very good discussions about the Second Amendment and gun rights."
The AK-47 and a .22 Marlin magnum rifle offered as second prize will never be on campus, Davis said. The winners will get gift certificates to pick up their prizes off campus.
Davis has achieved his goal of inciting discussion.
Students in one of John Longo's English composition classes decided to protest the event for their community service project.
They found a statute in South Carolina law that makes holding a raffle illegal, Longo said. Davis said he is abiding by the "archaic" law and giving the tickets away for a suggested donation of $5 rather than selling them.
Protesters are trying to "sabotage" the event by taking tickets and not making a donation, Davis said. Of 70 tickets handed out Monday, the first day of the event, only 20 donated, he said. The drawing is Thursday.
Longo said he was one of several professors who sent an e-mail to university President James F. Barker expressing concern about the drawing, but he said he didn't push his students into protesting.
"Because of my position as the instructor, I'm trying to keep my own political bias out of it," he said.
The professors who e-mailed Barker "were concerned that this might reflect poorly on Clemson University," he said.
At least four professors took classes to the Observer's ticket booth in front of the university library to protest, Davis said.
"It's actually pretty pathetic," he said.
Longo said if one of his class members wins the gun, that person plans to do something with it he feels is ethical -- either have it melted down and possibly turned into a piece of art or donate it to the university police department.
The university isn't necessarily condoning the event but isn't stopping it, said Robin Denny, director of news services.
"As its been explained to us, the way they're conducting this activity is within the law and university regulations," she said.
State law and university regulations bar firearms from campus, she said.
Davis said he got the idea from a conservative student newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The Orange and Blue Observer's Web site shows photos of students protesting at a raffle last April in which three 9mm handguns were given away.
Most of the money the Clemson event raises, if it makes it into the black, will go toward operating costs of the Tiger Town Observer, a free monthly publication distributed on campus without any financial support from the university, and for a self-defense program for female students, Davis said. But 20 percent of the proceeds are earmarked for a foundation for democracy in Iran, he said.
Davis chose the $340 AK-47 because he's trying to attract the attention of people who aren't normally interested in guns.
"They see this, and it sparks their interest, and that's who we're really trying to shoot for -- no pun intended," he said.
If a student who lives on campus wins the drawing, the group has made arrangements for the weapon to be stored off campus until the winner has a chance to take it home, he said.
Reaction among students Monday ranged from indifference to alarm.
Jenny Tate, a freshman majoring in industrial engineering, was concerned.
"It's kind of scary," she said. "I mean, what if they got in the wrong person's hands? I mean, what if someone won and didn't know how to use it?"
Rachael Shannon, a freshman psychology major, said she couldn't see any benefit the program could have for the school.
"I think there are other ways to celebrate the Second Amendment without auctioning off a rifle," she said.
Staff writer Lindsay Edmonds
Rifle raffle triggers ruckus at Clemson
Independent student newspaper's editor hopes to raise money, awareness of 2nd Amendment
Published: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 6:00 am
By Ron Barnett
STAFF WRITER
[email protected]
CLEMSON -- An independent student newspaper at Clemson University that last week published Danish cartoons of Muhammad is sponsoring a drawing this week for an AK-47 assault rifle, stirring some student and faculty protests.
Andrew Davis, editor-in-chief of the conservative tabloid The Tiger Town Observer, said his purpose is to celebrate the Second Amendment's guarantee of the right to bear arms.
"The Second Amendment is probably one of the least respected amendments that we have, mainly because there's not enough education about firearms," the political science major from Surfside Beach said. "So we're hoping that this event will raise awareness for firearms and incite some very good discussions about the Second Amendment and gun rights."
The AK-47 and a .22 Marlin magnum rifle offered as second prize will never be on campus, Davis said. The winners will get gift certificates to pick up their prizes off campus.
Davis has achieved his goal of inciting discussion.
Students in one of John Longo's English composition classes decided to protest the event for their community service project.
They found a statute in South Carolina law that makes holding a raffle illegal, Longo said. Davis said he is abiding by the "archaic" law and giving the tickets away for a suggested donation of $5 rather than selling them.
Protesters are trying to "sabotage" the event by taking tickets and not making a donation, Davis said. Of 70 tickets handed out Monday, the first day of the event, only 20 donated, he said. The drawing is Thursday.
Longo said he was one of several professors who sent an e-mail to university President James F. Barker expressing concern about the drawing, but he said he didn't push his students into protesting.
"Because of my position as the instructor, I'm trying to keep my own political bias out of it," he said.
The professors who e-mailed Barker "were concerned that this might reflect poorly on Clemson University," he said.
At least four professors took classes to the Observer's ticket booth in front of the university library to protest, Davis said.
"It's actually pretty pathetic," he said.
Longo said if one of his class members wins the gun, that person plans to do something with it he feels is ethical -- either have it melted down and possibly turned into a piece of art or donate it to the university police department.
The university isn't necessarily condoning the event but isn't stopping it, said Robin Denny, director of news services.
"As its been explained to us, the way they're conducting this activity is within the law and university regulations," she said.
State law and university regulations bar firearms from campus, she said.
Davis said he got the idea from a conservative student newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The Orange and Blue Observer's Web site shows photos of students protesting at a raffle last April in which three 9mm handguns were given away.
Most of the money the Clemson event raises, if it makes it into the black, will go toward operating costs of the Tiger Town Observer, a free monthly publication distributed on campus without any financial support from the university, and for a self-defense program for female students, Davis said. But 20 percent of the proceeds are earmarked for a foundation for democracy in Iran, he said.
Davis chose the $340 AK-47 because he's trying to attract the attention of people who aren't normally interested in guns.
"They see this, and it sparks their interest, and that's who we're really trying to shoot for -- no pun intended," he said.
If a student who lives on campus wins the drawing, the group has made arrangements for the weapon to be stored off campus until the winner has a chance to take it home, he said.
Reaction among students Monday ranged from indifference to alarm.
Jenny Tate, a freshman majoring in industrial engineering, was concerned.
"It's kind of scary," she said. "I mean, what if they got in the wrong person's hands? I mean, what if someone won and didn't know how to use it?"
Rachael Shannon, a freshman psychology major, said she couldn't see any benefit the program could have for the school.
"I think there are other ways to celebrate the Second Amendment without auctioning off a rifle," she said.
Staff writer Lindsay Edmonds