Duane Barbati

Alamogordo Daily News

ALAMOGORDO — United Way Worldwide demanded the United Way of Otero County to stop their 2017 calendar firearms raffle in a cease and desist letter to the local affiliate organization Friday.

According to the Aug. 3 letter, United Way Worldwide has asked the United Way of Otero County to agree to stop the raffle immediately by signing the letter of agreement.

United Way of Otero County spokeswoman Michelle Brideaux said the local organization has suspended the raffle for the immediate future.

“We currently have not signed it,” Brideaux said. “We’ve just sent a response back that we’ve removed the website for the moment. We’re waiting to hear advice from our attorney before we take any other action.”

United Way of Otero County issued the following email statement about the raffle: “The United Way of Otero County is working with the United Way Worldwide to soothe their concerns and continue to embody the beliefs and principals of our local United Way and our local community.”

The United Way of Otero County teamed up with Western True Value to sell 2017 calendars with a raffle entry ticket attached to the calendar for $50. The raffle gave the purchaser the opportunity to be entered into a twice weekly firearms raffle. The raffle was limited to 3,000 tickets or calendars being sold. It would have netted the organization about $150,000 minus the cost of the background checks of the winners of the firearms.

The firearms being raffled are rifles, shotguns and handguns that include an AR-15 rifle, a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun and various caliber rifles and handguns.

Western True Value Store manager Kerry Maupin said the store has done gun raffles for different organizations within Alamogordo and Otero County in the past to help them raise money.

“We’ve done one for the Sheriff’s Office to raise money for their department,” Maupin said. “We don’t make a lot of money. We cover our administrative cost. This was United Way of Otero County’s first year that they were able to cover their administrative costs and still be able to help the people of Otero County with this gun raffle.”

He said he believes everything about the raffle has been conducted according to firearm laws.

“We have the guns in our inventory,” Maupin said. “When somebody wins the gun then we have to register them. If they don’t pass the background check, it’s null and void. You can’t trade it for a microwave or a television, you're done. Everyone knows that going in.”

He said two guns a week would be given away during 2017.

“It’s a fun deal,” Maupin said. “We’re fourth in the nation for registered gun owners with 80,000 gun owners. Out of those 80,000 gun owners, 53 people were killed in 2014 with a gun. It breaks down to less than one percent. I would say look at the pharmaceuticals and how many people died from overdoses. In New Mexico, 530 people died from overdoses in 2014 with 265 being pharmaceutical.”

He said he believes it’s a liberal agenda from left leaning people that are going after gun owners and their right to own a gun.

“People are very confused about an AR-15,” Maupin said. “An AR-15 they classify as an assault rifle. It was never listed as an assault rifle. In my opinion all weapons that are used to harm someone is an assault weapon. They’re uneducated and uninformed.”

He said he wants to know why we do not stand up against people trying to take our rights away.

“United Way benefits a lot of people in Otero County,” Maupin said. “I believe this person who is perpetrating this is causing harm to this organization and the community. We as a community are going to have to stand up. I would ask anyone who believes in freedom, liberty and our Constitution to stand with us to call our representatives and United Way because we only have the rights that we stand up for.”

New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence co-president Miranda Viscoli said she sent a letter to United Way Worldwide alerting the organization about the firearm raffle.

“The mission of the United Way is to mobilize the power of communities worldwide and to advance the common good,” Viscoli said. “They were raffling off an AR-15 assault weapon. Those AR-15's are designed for one thing — to kill as many people as quickly as possible. It has nothing to do with that mission.”

She said the Otero County branch of the United Way is justifiably proud of the work they are doing in addressing child and domestic violence.

“But those are fundamental and an integral part of those issues,” Viscoli said. “When you look at the statistics in New Mexico and look at Alamogordo, we have a serious problem when it comes to gun violence. We’re the seventh worst in the state for gun violence in the country. We’re the fourth worst with intimate partner homicide with two-thirds being committed by firearms. We’re the third leading cause of death for teenagers being shot and killed with firearms. With the Otero County United Way branch, there seems to be a disconnect between their fundraising and their mission because the very items they’re raffling off will go into communities that are being hurt by gun violence towards women and children.”

According to the United Way Worldwide letter, the raffle and distribution of over 108 firearms into the community would violate the bylaws of United Way, given the implications of firearms on community safety and the negative impact on the United Way brand.