OHIO: Grade Schoolers Asked To Raffle Assault Rifle

Cincinnati’s Fox affiliate reports:

A New Richmond mother is fighting for change after she says her 7-year-old daughter was asked to sell raffle tickets for a semi-automatic gun for her cheer squad. This is Nevaeh Chilton’s first year on the Junior Lions Cheer Team. Her mother, Heather Chilton was excited for her 7-year-old daughter to join the squad.

Now she’s fired up about a fundraiser her daughter was asked to be a part of. The members of the football and cheer team have been asked to to sell raffle tickets for an AM-15 optic ready rifle.

Chilton said in July she received an email saying that all the members of the cheer team would be required to sell five AM-15 raffle tickets and five gift basket raffle tickets for $10 each to help raise money for the football and cheer programs.

CNN reports:



The New Richmond Junior Lions Football and Cheer program is an independent, nonprofit organization for cheerleaders and football players ages 5 to 12. About 150 students participate in the program, according to the league’s president, Robert Wooten.

The outrage over the fundraiser comes just weeks after a mass shooting left nine people dead in Dayton, Ohio, just over an hour away from New Richmond.

“This was bad timing,” Wooten said. “I also think there is a greater issue people are missing. Just in our hometown alone, we got so many other issues that are the root problem. The gun violence we see is a symptom of a larger problem. I wish we would focus on the greater root.”