Private school in Fla. to give away 2 guns in fundraiser

Kevin Robinson | Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal

PENSACOLA, Fla. — A private school in Pensacola is featuring two rifles as prizes in a charity golf event.

The 15th annual Trinitas Classic and Pro Am Golf Tournament, a fundraiser for Trinitas Christian Academy, will feature a Browning A-BOLT III Stalker, a bolt-action rifle, and a Smith & Wesson M&P15 — a sporting rifle similar in design to the AR-15 — as prizes for a putting contest.

The prizes were announced on the event's Facebook page in January, but a parent has raised concerns about the weapons being involved in a school function after a shooting on Wednesday in a Parkland high school resulted in 17 deaths.

Trinitas representatives could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

The Christian academy is a private K-12 school. Its website says many of the school's families "depend on tuition assistance to be able to provide an excellent classical and Christ-centered education to their children. This tuition assistance is provided by many supporters in the community through our annual fund campaign and fundraising events like the Trinitas Classic."

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According to the Facebook post, the winners of the rifles must be able to pass a Florida Department of Law Enforcement background check.

National debate over gun control has reignited in the U.S., with many critics of current gun laws lamenting how easy it is to get access to a firearm.

Some Second Amendment supporters have resisted attempts to tighten gun regulation, and instead discussed rethinking America's mental health care system

Nikolas Cruz, the suspect in the shooting in Parkland, had a well-documented history of erratic behavior but was able to legally purchase the AR-15 that he allegedly used in the attack.