Just when you thought Arizona couldn’t possibly become more tactless, according to the Huffington Post, the Pima County Republican Tea Party (GOTP) is raffling off a Glock 23 handgun to raise money for get-out-the-vote efforts in Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ Arizona district. What’s the big deal some will ask? The congresswoman continues to recover after being critically wounded in a mass shooting in January that left six people dead and 13 injured. You may remember that Giffords was holding a “Congress at your corner” event in Tucson when a shooter open fired with a Glock 19.
An August edition of the Pima County GOTP’s newsletter advertises that supporters can purchase raffle tickets for $10 to win the .40 caliber handgun.
“That’s right, for just 10 dollars this gun could be yours,” the newsletter reads. The Pima County GOTP plans to sell 125 raffle tickets and the winner will also receive three 12-round magazines, adjustable grips and a case.
Greg Harris, executive director of the Pima GOTP, told Hotsheet the firearm was in his organization’s possession prior to the January shooting.
Asked whether the raffle would appear insensitive, Harris also pointed out that Giffords herself owns a Glock and has been a strong gun advocate. As Hotsheet pointed out after the tragic Tucson event, gun ownership is a deeply ingrained part of Arizona culture. Owning a gun simply “is Arizona, it is the West, it is the culture,” Carol Ruh, president of the Arizona Women’s Shooting Associates, told Hotsheet.
Wow, really? It’s the West? It’s the culture? It’s the ignorance? It’s the insensitivity? It’s today’s Republican Tea Party? Yeah, all of the above, but especially the latter; can you imagine someone in Columbine, CO selling a handgun for a fund raiser? Only the GOTP, and only in Arizona would anyone think this is normal and OK. Well, maybe in Wasilla it would be considered OK too.
The Liberty Tree 
