Youth league swings, misses on raffle prize

AR-15 rifle will be given to winning ticket in Ohio

One of the biggest strikeouts in baseball this year will take place April 29 in East Canton, Ohio.

On that day, the East Canton Youth Baseball Association will raffle off an

AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. Tee-ball players between the ages of

4 and 6 will pull the winning raffle tickets from a tumbler, said David Spencer, the league’s president.

“We allow the little guys to draw the tickets because it keeps anyone from saying we’re trying to manipulate the drawing,” Spencer told USA TODAY. This is myopia on a grand-slam scale. Spencer and the youth baseball league want to make sure everything looks above board to the ticket buyers. But they’re showing far less consideration to how it looks outside Canton, to those impacted by any number of mass shootings, including the Feb. 14 tragedy at a Parkland, Fla., high school in which

17 people were killed.

That day at Stoneman Douglas High School, the gunman used an AR-15 style rifle.

The East Canton youth baseball league also will be raffling off a bolt-action hunting rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a handgun.

“We’ve seen a lot of suggestions online of, ‘Oh, maybe you should do a bake sale or maybe you should do a car wash, or maybe you should sell candy bars,’ ” Spencer said. “And we’ve done all of those things.”

But Spencer said those events weren’t generating enough money and so the adults brainstormed five years ago.

“We sat back and said, ‘What do people want? What do people really like in this area? What are people willing to spend money on in this area?’ ” Spencer recalled. “They’re interested in things they’re passionate about. And a lot of people are passionate about firearms.”

So, Spencer said, in an effort to reduce registration fees — which range from $55 to $95 depending on the age of the player — the baseball association decided to raffle off guns, including the AR-15.

“It is the most popular rifle in the U.S.,” Spencer said.

The weapon is also very popular among mass shooters. Since June 2016, that type of gun was used in the shootings at a Las Vegas concert, an Orlando nightclub and a Texas church.

The AR-15 also was used in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in New- ton, Conn., where 28 people were killed. Since then, the Los Angeles Times reported in March, there have been more than 180 shootings on school campuses in the United States that resulted in an injury or death.

“Bad people will find a way to do bad things,” Spencer said. “The gun is just a tool. That’s all it is.”

It’s a tool that helped the baseball league raise about $5,000 last year and is expected to raise about $6,000 this year, according to Spencer.

Lorraine Wilburn, a political activist in North Canton, opposes the raffle but understands why others support it in a community she describes as gun friendly.

“We have a lot of rural areas and a lot of people hunt and use guns for protection,” she told USA TODAY. “They feel very strongly about preserving their Second Amendment rights. And I don’t think anybody really wants to take that away. But I think the optics on this issue is very insensitive considering what recently happened in Parkland.

“Students around the country are rallying and they’re terrified, frankly, and it just feels like really poor timing to do something like this to raise money for a Little League.”

The father of two children in elementary school, Spencer at times sounded like he was reading from a well-rehearsed NRA script. Some of his points:

❚ The approximately 140 children in the East Canton baseball league are not involved in selling tickets, and participation is voluntary.

❚ The raffle fliers were not posted on the league’s website this year. “We do understand that this year is a little bit more sensitive,” Spencer said.

❚ The guns being raffled off remain at the dealership, and raffle ticket winners are subject to background checks.

It’s also worth noting that after media coverage of the event, Spencer said, on Wednesday he heard from at least 20 people in different parts of the country who want to participate in the raffle.

“You’ve got to understand, when people feel like they’re constantly being attacked and that their way of life is constantly being questioned and that what they believe in is wrong, they’re going to react when they see these kinds of stories,” Spencer said. “People are genuinely tired of being told that the way they think and the way they’ve been brought up is wrong.”

In fact, the Associated Press reported that youth organizations across the country are holding raffles for the rifles.

The responsible and legal use and ownership of guns is perfectly acceptable. But using assault rifles to raise money for a youth baseball league is the equivalent of watching Casey at the Bat.

A monumental strikeout.