‘Inappropriate’: Belton police call off AR-15 rifle raffle in wake of mass shootings

A police association in Belton is pulling its raffle of an AR-15 rifle from a DARE fundraiser after recent shootings made the prize inappropriate, police said Wednesday.

The Belton Police Athletic Association planned to raffle off an AR-15 rifle as part of its annual fundraiser supporting DARE programs in Belton schools. The independent, nonprofit organization was established in 1987 and has sponsored a DARE golf tournament in Belton for 30 years.

In previous years, the fundraiser included a firearm auction, with all proceeds going to DARE. Previous raffle winners have had to pass background checks through a federally licensed gun dealer, police said.

Police said the decision to include an AR-15 in this year’s event was made months ago.

“After recent tragic events, the Belton Police Athletic Association decided that it would be inappropriate to continue with the raffle as planned,” Lt. Dan Davis, a spokesman for the police department, said in a statement Wednesday.

Last week, a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The shooter bought two AR-style rifles legally purchased days before the assault, according to the Associated Press.

Ten days prior to the shooting in Texas, a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, left 10 people dead and three more injured. The gunman bought an AR-15 style rifle days before the attack, the AP reported.

Raffle ticket holders will be refunded by the Belton Police Athletic Association, police said.