Reply #131: The people who are complaining are pro-gun. They're 2nd Amendment champions.

[MADem]

This isn't a bunch of northeast liberals whining from afar--this is a local show--gun owners, Democratic and Republican politicians, voters from all across the spectrum, and the family members of the dead and wounded, saying "You fucking ASSHOLE--that was a low blow!!!!!"

And when the chair of the Tucson GOP says, flat-out "I told that idiot not to do that stupid raffle--it's INSENSITIVE, it's bad PR, it will get a bad reaction" and doesn't back up the Pima County clown at all, you know that he's gotten an earful from his own people. Here's his precise commentary, without my interpretation:

James Kelley, Republican chairman in Legislative District 29, which mostly is in Tucson, said Giffords is such a beloved figure in his community that he instinctively knew the Glock raffle would draw criticism. He urged his fellow Republicans to, at the very least, hold the raffle at a private party event.

“Let’s make this perfectly clear: I advised against this raffle from day one,” said Kelley, who also is on the Pima County GOP’s executive committee.

“I said, ‘This is insensitive and stupid and a no-brainer. Do not advertise this.’ The chairman and our executive director did the wrong thing. They said, ‘Well, we’ve done it before.’ Yes, but not since January 8, and we shouldn’t be doing it now.”

http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2011/09/02/pima-gops-glock-raffle-spurs-outcry/

All politics is local. And the outrage (not "poutrage" as some instigators claim) is coming from pro-gun citizens of Gabby's district from left-right-center. It's the nudge-wink quality of the raffle, and the accompanying disingenuous "Who, ME? Why, I didn't mean THAT" bullshit that they aren't buying.

Making light of that shooting, even tangentially with a smirk, was a dumb thing to do--particularly when the youngest victim's tenth birthday would have been next week.