SPOKANE, Wash. – An Eastern Washington GOP group is changing course after making headlines for including an AR-15 in their fundraising auction.
Lisa Brown, the democrat challenging Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) – WA 5th Dist., took to Facebook on Tuesday afternoon to call on the congresswoman to cancel her appearance at a fundraiser for the Stevens County Republicans that was slated to have an AR-15 rifle for auction.
An AR-15 rifle was used in the devastating mass shooting at a Florida high school last week that left 17 students and staff dead.
The Stevens County Republicans (SCRCC) hold an annual event called the Lincoln Day Dinner. Last year’s event shows McMorris Rodgers spoke then as well, and the lead live auction item was also an AR-15 rifle.
Tuesday afternoon, the group told KREM 2 they had changed their plans to take into consideration the recent Florida shooting.
"Bottom line, we made all our plans that were consistent with what we have done in the past," Lori Larsen, the chair of Stevens County Republicans said. "We will not be including that in our event at this time in recognition of the recent events."
The screenshot posted to Lisa Brown’s Facebook page clearly shows the grand auction item for the dinner as an AR -15, however as of Tuesday afternoon, the Stevens County Republicans’ website had been updated to remove that line.
The SCRCC said the following in a statement:
We want the public to understand that the plan to once again offer this popular item was made prior to the terrible incident in Parkland, Florida, and our initial public advertisement of this event began several days before the shooting. We grieve with the community and the nation. We stand by 2nd amendment, but we also recognized that in the current environment, publicizing a means to acquire a semi-automatic AR-15 has the potential to insert more separation into our political discourse. Therefore, we have decided we will not be including this firearm at our event; instead, the winner of our final door price will receive a gift certificate to a local business.
The Stevens County Republicans are not the only group finding themselves in the middle of the gun debate.
Rep. Tyler Tannahill, R-Kan., on Feb. 13 announced plans to raffle a AR-15 to help finance his campaign. The shooting rampage in Parkland took place the next day. Tannahill says he won't cancel the raffle. He told the Kansas City Star that more gun laws wouldn't have made a difference in Florida.
“We’re not trying to raise money off the school shooting,” Tannahill said. “We do want to find a solution."
USA Today and the Kansas City Star contributed to this report.
