STANLEY, N.C. — A raffle to give away an AR-15 was streamed live on Facebook with the Optimist pee wee football team from Stanley.
The money was to help the team go on a trip and players were encouraged to thank those who bought a ticket to possibly win the AR-15.
"It just blew my mind, right," a father, Brandon Jenkins, said.
Willard Whitted is a gun owner, but he said this was a bad idea.
"Thought it was terrible that they would even think of doing something like that," Whitted said.
He said scores of people are killed when a gun of that type gets into the wrongs hands.
"Find something else to raffle off," he said.
"I just donated the money," Mark Kee, who gave cash to help raise money.
He did not buy a ticket in the raffle.
"Where are the adults in charge of this?” Kee said. “Have they been watching the news? Do they know what's going on?"
The football coach, Ron Nolan, said a pawn shop owner donated the gun.
"Nothing is done illegally,” Nolan said. “It will change hands to a law-abiding citizen that passes a serious background check."
Damien Lockridge's son played on the team last year and believes raffling off the gun is the right thing to do.
He said the team uses the money from the raffle to help families pay for a trip to a playoff.
"They have to raise money somehow,” Lockridge said. “This is the only way to do it. I think it’s a great idea."
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