Raffling an AR-15: Good idea for police?

There is something about an AR-15 that people seem to find irresistible as a prize in a raffle.

Make of this what you will.

Last year, well-known gun-control advocate Mark Kelly, husband of gun-violence victim Gabrielle Giffords, bought a Sig Sauer AR-15 in Tucson. The store owner reportedly had second thoughts about consummating the deal, and, instead, declared he would donate the weapon to be raffled off on behalf of a National Rifle Association gun-safety program.

Republican groups have raffled AR-15s, providing tidbits of political fodder to their anti-gun political opponents. One of the raffles, by the East Valley's Legislative District 26 Republicans, prompted Democratic LD 26 committee chairman Randy Keating to respond: "An AR-15 assault rifle is a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands, it should not be a contest prize."

Well, a lot of people disagree, including the Wisconsin-based Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, which raffled off one last year under the theme, "Gun control isn't kosher."

And, there is what may be the oddest AR-15 raffle host of them all: The Arizona Department of Public Safety.

A top prize at the 2014 DPS BBQ for Champions on April 17 was, yes, an AR-15. The annual BBQ and raffle raises money for Special Olympics Arizona.

The event at DPS headquarters featured food, demonstrations by the bomb squad and SWAT team, live entertainment and the rifle raffled off to some lucky winner.

Who, according to a terse statement from a DPS spokesman, was a police officer.

"There's nothing illegal about it," said DPS spokesman Bart Graves.

Never said there was. Just … well, make of it what you will.