Dear Editor,
The Second Amendment guarantees us the right to bear arms. Plain and simple, (actually it’s not but for this article we will assume that it is).
I am a gun owner. I’ve taken training in gun safety. I have a CCW. I am not anti-gun.
OK, now that I’ve made that clear, let’s talk about guns, schools, and fundraising. Is it tone deaf and improper for schools to benefit from the sale or raffling off of guns?
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database there have been over 1,100 school shootings since 2021 in the United States. Yet, more and more schools are using raffles for guns as fundraisers.
The number one killer of children ages one to seventeen in the United States is firearms. Not car wrecks. Not disease. Firearms. We are looking to profit from our kids biggest killer.
Recently, my alma mater, Tuscarawas Central Catholic, has announced its first annual 30 Gun Raffle to benefit the football team. In all fairness, the group holding the raffle is, according to the school and the Diocese of Columbus, not affiliated with the school.
The group, started by a current TCC coach, is named “The Art Teynor Memorial Fund.” Art Teynor was the long time Hall of Fame Coach who dedicated his coaching career to Dover St. Joseph’s and then to Tuscarawas Central Catholic.
He was a man who molded and taught many of the young men who passed through TCC. He was also a man, who family members have stated, would never have had his name associated with such a fundraiser.
According to the “Art Teynor Memorial Fund” Facebook page, their sole purpose is to support TCC football and all things Saints athletics.
Yet, the school and the Diocese insist that the group doing the raffle is not associated with TCC. Of course, the school and the diocese could refuse to accept the money.
I know raising money for schools, especially private schools, is difficult. As a Catholic School, we have relied on gambling and the sale of alcohol to raise money for decades; a sore subject for many but also seen as necessary. But now, we are willing to accept money from the sale of the number one killer of our students. Is this crossing the line?
I would ask that, if you believe this crosses the line of acceptable ways to raise money, please contact the school or the diocese.
If your school is resorting to the same type of fundraiser, voice your concern. This really is crossing the line.
Ed Mason
Dover, Ohio