An AR-15 baseball raffle by third graders in Missouri will go ahead despite social media criticism following the mass shooting in Florida last Wednesday in which the suspect used a similar weapon to kill 17 and injure more than a dozen.

The coach of the 9-and-under youth baseball team in Neosho, Levi Patterson, told the Kansas City Star that the weapon was offered to the team to raffle off by the father of one of the players who is the co-founder weapons purveyor Black Rain Ordnance Inc.

Criticism of the sale swelled after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Nikolas Cruz, a former student at the school, reportedly used an AR-15 in the shooting rampage, killing students and staff at the school, according to the Star and USA Today.

Complaints about the raffle on social media were tense.

Patterson told the Star he thought about using another raffle item after the Florida shooting but decided to "turn it into a positive thing." He noted that a hate group created a Facebook post about the raffle, sparking criticism as well.

Lee Woodward, the principal of South Elementary School in Neosho, posted news of the raffle on her Facebook page hours after the Florida shooting, encouraging readers to support the "Neosho baseball players, coaches, and parents." The raffle, though is not associated with the school or school district, the Star said.

Patterson said donations have increased to the youth raffle since the school shooting and controversy, with the people as far away as Colorado buying tickets, according to the Star.

The winner would need to pass a background check before walking way with the weapon, the Starsaid.