An Iraq war veteran says a youth football league in central Pennsylvania is using inappropriate prizes in a raffle fundraiser: rifles.
David Diaz, who served two years in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division, said he doesn't want his 9-year-old daughter, a cheerleader, to sell tickets for the October nightly raffle.
"It doesn't seem right that we are using guns to raise money so they can play football," Diaz said.
The money from the sale of the $10 raffle tickets will go to the Greenwood-Newport Midget Football Association, which puts on games with children ages 5 to 13.
Pat Dorman, the association vice president, said she didn't see a problem with a rifle as an attention-getting prize.
"People hunt; guns are not just used for violence," said Dorman. "We want to attract the people to buying the tickets."
Winners can receive cash if they don't want a rifle. Ticket holders must be 18 to win a rifle, and receive it through a participating gun store that satisfies all legal requirements including background checks, she said.
It is legal for children to sell tickets for a gun raffle. But children can't win the rifle or present it to the winner, Perry County District Attorney Charles Chenot said.
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