The Arizona GOP is fundraising by raffling off the same brand of gun used to shoot Giffords. Ariz. GOP raffling off Glock gun

Arizona Republicans are fundraising by raffling off a Glock pistol, the same brand of gun used to shoot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords just eight months ago.

On Aug. 26, the Pima County Republican Party sent out an online newsletter that described the raffle as part of an initiative to raise money for get out the vote efforts, according to the Huffington Post, which first spotted the newsletter.


“Get yourself a new Glock 23 .40 cal handgun for just 10 bucks — if your name is drawn. That’s right, for just 10 collars this gun could be yours,” reads the advertisement. 125 tickets will be sold.

Giffords was shot in the head on Jan. 8, 2011, in Pima County. Nineteen others were shot, of whom six were killed. Jared Lee Loughner was arrested as the gunman.

Giffords returned to Congress at the beginning of this month to vote on raising the debt-ceiling, sparking a bipartisan standing ovation.

“I think it shows a stunning lack of judgement and decency at a time like this, when the community is still grieving and healing over the events of January 8th,” said Jeff Rogers, chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party. “Raffles are fine - how about an iPad, or a bag of golf clubs… if you want to honor the 2nd amendment, why not raffle off a shotgun or a hunting rifle?”

Opposition to the Glock raffle appeared to have bipartisan support.

“There’s a woman who has a bullet in the brain and who everybody is wishing a full recovery,” Brian Miller, the immediate past chair of the Pima County GOP told Talking Points Memo. “I don’t think that raffling off a firearm right now is probably the right way to go.”

“I think it’s insensitive,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.). “It doesn’t mean that anyone with a Glock will do with it what that one person did [but] the whole community is still going through a dramatic recovery…this is just twisted.”

Giffords’ office declined to comment, and spokesman Mark Kimble told POLITICO that “we don’t comment on political matters.” The Pima County Republican Party has not responded to a request for comment.

The model of gun being raffled is not the same as the one used by Loughner during the shooting. The Glock being raffled by the Republican group is a Glock 23.Loughner reportedly used a Glock 19. The Glock 23 is designed to hold more powerful ammunition than the Glock 19.

Sales of Glocks rose in the immediate aftermath of Giffords’s shooting. In fact, Giffords herself owns a Glock. “I have a Glock 9-millimeter, and I’m a pretty good shot,” she told the New York Times in 2010.