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from the Moline Dispatch
http://www.qconline.com/archives/qco/sections.cgi?prcss=display&id=174459
http://www.qconline.com/archives/qco/sections.cgi?prcss=display&id=174459
November 15, 2003 12:17 AM
Law-enforcement memorial group defends semi-automatic rifle raffle
By Tory Brecht , Staff writer
Despite claims to the contrary, there is nothing ironic, unusual or immoral about raffling off a semi-automatic rifle to raise money for a police memorial, say members of the committee conducting the raffle.
Gene Karzin, president of the Quad Cities Law Enforcement Memorial Committee, said the fundraiser is aimed primarily at fellow police officers who might like to have a rifle for use on duty.
The gun in question is a CAR UTE Elite, a .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle manufactured by Rock River Arms Inc. of Colona. The military-style weapon has been called an ``assault rifle'' by gun-control advocates and in a broadcast-media report aired Wednesday.
That's stretching the facts, said Det. Karzin, a member of the Rock Island Police Department.
``It's not what they're portraying it as,'' he said. ``It's a legal weapon you can buy at any gun store in the Quad-Cities. It is not fully automatic. We couldn't raffle off a banned weapon, or I'd have to put myself in jail.''
Tom Mannard, executive director of the Chicago-based Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, said guns like the CAR UTE Elite may not be on the banned list, but they basically are cloned replicas of assault rifles that are, like the Colt AR-15.
Mr. Mannard said the fact that it is being raffled off to help fund a memorial dedicated to officers killed in the line of duty is disturbing.
``To raffle off a gun used, more often than not, to kill innocent people, and particularly law-enforcement officers, is pretty misguided,'' he said. ``To raise money for a memorial is wonderful, but you'd hate to see an officer's name go up on that memorial because they're killed by an AR-15 or a similar weapon.''
That's highly unlikely, said Det. Karzin.
``Only one officer in the last 44 years has been killed by a weapon of this sort in the state of Illinois,'' he said.
Although members of the public can buy one of the $5 raffle tickets -- proceeds of which will help fund landscaping, a base, lights and a wall behind the officers memorial statue outside the justice center in Rock Island -- most ticket buyers are fellow cops, Det. Karzin said.
Ninety-five to 99 percent of the tickets sold thus far have gone to fellow officers, he said. To win the gun, a ticketholder must produce a valid firearms identification card, which is regulated by the state and prohibits convicted felons, those convicted of domestic battery and other violent crimes, and the mentally ill from owning guns, Det. Karzin said.
``I don't find it ironic at all,'' he said of the raffle. ``This gun is not going to kill anybody. We'll follow the letter of the law in whoever we give it to.''
John Johnson, executive director of Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence, said he was surprised to learn of the raffle one day after visiting the Quad-Cities to lobby for tighter assault-weapon restrictions.
``It's almost more than ironic that police officers would be auctioning off a weapon that is used in a disproportionate number of officer shootings,'' he said. ``One out of five officers killed by guns are killed by assault weapons, even though they make up less than 5 percent of all guns.''
Mr. Johnson said he supports the raffle. He said Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence and the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence have jointly offered to give the fundraising committee a hunting rifle or shotgun of equal value to the CAR UTE Elite to be raffled off instead.
Det. Karzin said the committee is not interested in that offer.
Rock Island County Sheriff Mike Grchan called the controversy much ado about nothing.
``At every law-enforcement convention I go to, be it the FBI or state police or whatever, they always have a firearm auction,'' he said. ``Those are the tools of the business.''
Staff writer Tory Brecht can be reached at (309) 786-6441, ext. 271, or by e-mail at [email protected].
