Gun giveaways in the US stoke debate after school shooting

CONCORD, New Hampshire (AP) - Police chiefs in New Hampshire wanted more money for their youth training programme. A youth hockey team in North Dakota needed more ice time. Both saw giving away guns as the answer.

From car dealerships to political parties to hockey teams to yes, even police chiefs, gun giveaways are an attractive way to make money or draw in customers. But in the wake of the deadly shooting rampage in a Connecticut elementary school, such raffles are drawing criticism as the ease of obtaining firearms fuels a nationwide debate over gun control measures.

The New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police is raffling off a gun every day in May, including a Ruger AR-15-style rifle with a 30-round magazine similar to the one used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that killed 20 children and six educators in December. The players in West Fargo's Youth Hockey Association will raffle off 200 guns and an all-terrain vehicle next month. Up for grabs are shotguns, handguns, hunting rifles and semi-automatic rifles.

Both were planned long before the shooting in Newtown invigorated calls for increased gun control. That didn't stop critics from blasting the raffles as, at best, in poor taste and, at worst, criminal. Mr John Rosenthal, founder and director of the Massachusetts-based Stop Handgun Violence, called the chiefs' raffle "insane" and "criminally irresponsible." "In 33 states - including Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont - the winner of this AR-15 can turn around the same day and sell it to anyone without an ID or background check," Rosenthal said. "They should cancel their raffle and give away a nice mountain bike or snowmobile."