New York GOP candidate David DiPietro fundraiser offers rifles, shotguns as prizes
A New York state assemblyman is hosting a fundraiser this weekend which will offer ten hunting rifles and shotguns as door prizes. This unique gimmick is raising the ire of anti-gun advocates in the man’s state and elsewhere.
Mossberg 930 Tactical 12 GA Shotgun with Stand-Off Barrel Walmart.com photo
“This is just something we do out here,” said Republican Assemblyman David DiPietro. “We hunt and fish. That’s what we do for fun. We’re rural.”
Donors paying $25 to attend Saturday’s chicken barbeque fundraiser, first reported by the Buffalo News, will be eligible to win one of the prizes.
Winners can elect the cash or receive coupon to go through the necessary background checks and get the weapon from a dealer.
DiPietro, a critic of Gov. Cuomo’s gun control law that passed last year, said he knew “it’s red meat for a lot of people downstate.”
“There is such a disconnect between the New York City people and the rest of the state,” he said.”The upper crust in Manhattan and on the Upper East Side, they have no clue.”
Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) called the fundraiser a “ridiculous publicity stunt.”
“After learning about this event, I must admit that my upper West Side eyebrows were raised,” she said. “I would hope that elected officials would set the bar, not lower it.”
Rosenthal, a strong defender of the gun control laws that passed last year, said a fundraiser offering weapons sets a bad example.
“Door prizes are supposed to be fun kind of gifts,” she said. “Sometimes they can be kitschy. sometimes they can be coupons to restaurants, but they shouldn’t be something that can actually kill someone.”
Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, said she isn’t surprised that DiPietro is offering firearms as door prizes.
“Whatever he is able to do to rile up his base, I’m sure he’ll do it,” she said.
