An auction of an AR-15, the same type of weapon used in the Florida high school shooting last week, will no longer be part of a fundraiser with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.).
The Stevens County Republican Party removed information about the planned AR-15 auction from the event’s website and now plans to offer a Ruger 10-22 .22-caliber rifle as a door prize after Politico contacted the committee about the event, according to the news outlet.
“We want the public to understand that the plan to once again offer this popular item was made prior to the terrible incident in Parkland, Florida, and our initial public advertisement of this event began several days before the shooting,” Stevens County Republican Central Committee chairwoman Lori Larsen said in a statement to Politico.
{mosads}”We grieve with the community and the nation.”
Larsen said the committee stands by the Second Amendment.
“But we also recognize that in the current environment, publicizing a means to acquire a semi-automatic AR-15 has the potential to insert more separation into our political discourse,” Larsen said in the statement.
“Therefore, we have decided we will not be including this firearm at our event; instead the winner of our final door prize will receive a gift certificate to a local business.”
A McMorris Rodgers campaign spokeswoman said the campaign supports the decision made by local Republican leadership.
The event will still take place later this year and will include McMorris Rodgers, along with other local officials.
The move to reverse course and pull the auction of the AR-15 comes after 17 people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a high school in Parkland, Fla.
Since the shooting, students and lawmakers have become advocates, speaking out against gun violence and demanding that Congress act.