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This chart from the Multnomah County Republican Party's Facebook page celebrates the surge in publicity the party's gun raffle received.

The Multnomah County Republican Party says it's once again hitting the fundraising jackpot

-- this one featuring an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to be awarded in celebration of "two great Republicans:" Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln.

Anne Marie Gurney, the party's vice-chair, said she is confident all 500 tickets at $10 apiece will be sold after the raffle received a surge of media interest on Monday, both locally and nationally.

Critics

in honor of two men who were killed by assassins wielding guns.

In addition, it appears the

. In fact, the civil rights leader pointedly refused to endorse either party and historians say he had praise -- and criticism -- for both Democratic and Republican leaders.

This is the third time the party has held a gun raffle, a fundraising gambit that has been increasingly popular among politicians and political organizations around the country.

The

, held in June of last year, sold out in a matter of days amid a swirl of controversy over whether it was appropriate in the wake of mass shootings at the Clackamas Town Center and Newtown, Conn. The party quickly launched a second raffle that Gurney said wasn't quite as popular.

This time, "I'm sure we're going to sell out," said Gurney, adding that she hasn't been able to get a hard count because ticket sales have been so brisk.

"Every time we do this we get asked if we are trying to be provocative," said Gurney, "and honestly we are not."

She said it didn't even occur to the county party leaders that King and Lincoln had been killed by guns. It's simply the time of year that the legacy of the two leaders is celebrated, she added.

"I think next time we may think about how we message it, but it won't stop us from holding these raffles," said Gurney.

One thing different about this raffle is that some Republicans who support gun rights also criticized the raffle.

Bruce McCain, a Portland attorney and conservative blogger, said he supports Second Amendment rights and has nothing against gun raffles. But this one "left a lot of us shaking our heads," he said. "Why would you tie that to an assassinated president and an assassinated civil rights leader?"

McCain argued that the few thousand dollars raised by the raffle won't counter the publicity that will turn off urban voters who are already pretty sour on the GOP -- which claims the allegiance of just 15 percent of the county's registered voters.

-- Jeff Mapes