Politicians and gun raffles are nothing new, especially in Texas.
All campaign contests, including gun raffles, are designed to give campaign workers email addresses and phone numbers for potential voters, according to Gov. Greg Abbott’s Press Secretary and Campaign Spokesman John Wittman.
The Texas governor’s latest contest raffling off a $250 gift certificate for a “Texas-made shotgun” is now a generic gift card.
“We changed it because of the events on Friday,” said Wittman referring to the shooting at Santa Fe High School.
The KVUE Defenders compared the original contest with the changed version.
The original contest was held for those 18 years or older who could legally purchase a pump-action shotgun and showed a picture of the governor aiming a shotgun. That verbiage is now removed from the contest page and the picture is removed.
Gov. Abbott held a similar contest for the 2014 campaign, according to Wittman. The governor’s campaign also raffles off other items to solicit voters.
These kinds of raffles are not strictly for politicians.
Last year, the Coupland PTA in Williamson County raffled off a Glock as well as a Bushmaster 5.56mm for their 2017-2018 Harvest Festival.
