At Least It's Not an Assault Rifle

 

Ruger .22 with Vortex scope

The Parent-Teacher Org (PTO) at Freedom Trail Elementary in Elk Park, Avery County, is raffling a .22 rifle with scope as a fundraiser, and I think that's okay, since those kids at that school come from a hunting culture in a woodlands setting, and that rifle is clearly meant as a useful tool for tramping the woods. It's okay if the majority of parents don't think the gun raffle is a political billboard for Trumpism. Odds are, it's not, or probably it would have been an assault rifle. It's just that with more and infinite school shootings, the raffling of a gun by a public school PTO jars the psyche.

(Why the Freedom Trail PTO Facebook page doesn't mention the gun raffle is mysterious. The gun will be given away on December 17th. I know about the raffle because someone showed me a $5 ticket (or "5 chances for $20") which prominently mentions the Ruger 16953 American 6.5 Creedmor .22 with Vortex Crossfire scope, which will go to the lucky winner in a drawing. "You do not have to be present to win." Second prize, $100 Walmart gift card.)

Freedom Trail Elementary -- despite what you may be thinking -- is very much part of the Avery County Public Schools and not a private nor religious enterprise. Its public nature, plus the gun raffle, would probably spark a tsunami of criticism if Elk Park were a major metropolis. The gun pretty much fits the culture, and gun opponents might want to cool their jets. The .22 rifle in question is bolt-action.