Boosters in district hit by gun violence in '98 raffling AR-15

A booster club that supports a northeast Arkansas school district that was the site of a deadly shooting in 1998 is drawing national attention for its plans to raffle off an AR-15 rifle, but officials say a firearms raffle isn't anything new to the area.

The Westside Band Booster Club is raffling off the weapon to raise money to help the Jonesboro-area Westside High School band go to Orlando, Fla., to perform at Walt Disney World, according to the parent-led booster club.

Westside School District Superintendent Scott Gauntt said he became aware of the raffle Wednesday evening when he saw an ad for it online.

Gauntt said he expected controversy when he noticed the weapon that will be raffled off was an AR-15. The AR-15 is a semi-automatic rifle that has come under scrutiny after having been used in several deadly rampages across the United States, including a shooting in 2018 that left 17 people dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

"Just because this type of weapon has been demonized as the weapon of crazy people, I knew it was coming," he said.

The middle school in the Westside district was the site of a shooting March 24, 1998, that left four students and a teacher dead and 10 others wounded when students Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, opened fire at the campus.

Johnson hid in a brushy area at the edge of the school while Golden pulled a fire alarm. As students exited the school, the two opened fire from the brushy area with high-powered hunting rifles taken from the house of Golden's grandfather. The rifles were not AR-15s.

Johnson and Golden were sentenced to spend the rest of their childhoods in a juvenile lockup and to be released by their 21st birthdays. Golden, who later changed his name to Drew Grant, died in a car crash earlier this summer.

"I hate that this brings back negative feelings from the past, but this isn't the same thing," Gauntt said. "A man who spends $20 on a raffle ticket isn't going to be a mass killer."

Nettleton School District Superintendent James Dunivan was the Westside High School principal when the shooting occurred in 1998. Dunivan told The Jonesboro Sun that he hoped school officials would be sensitive to such issues.

"I would hope that any school group or any school booster club in or around Jonesboro area would be sensitive enough to what happened 20 years ago to not auction off a weapon to raise money," Dunivan told The Jonesboro Sun.

Attempts by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette to contact Dunivan by phone and email were unsuccessful.

Gauntt said he believes the stir created by the raffle is because of the type of weapon being advertised.

"If this was a shotgun, I bet nobody would have said a word," he said. "The issue was the type of gun they auctioned off."

Sheriff Marty Boyd said firearms raffles are a part of life in Craighead County.

"Several organizations have raffled or have given away firearms for years," said Boyd, who was a deputy when the Westside school shooting occurred and one of the first people to get to the school after the shooting. "I hadn't even heard anything about this one until I read a story on the Internet."

Gauntt said interest grew once news of the raffle got outside Jonesboro and national media outlets picked up the story.

"It grew, but to be honest, when [northeast Arkansas television station] KAIT8 ran an article about it, it had over 300 hits on the posts and the overwhelming amount of comments were in favor of the raffle," Gauntt said. "There are people who are against it, and I have had a couple of people reach out to me, but nothing overwhelming."

Stacy Walz, president of the band's booster club, told The Jonesboro Sun that she understands the criticism but noted that the district is filled with gun enthusiasts who support the fundraiser. A message left by the Democrat-Gazette for Walz wasn't returned Friday.

Gauntt said other groups, including the school's trapshooting team, have raffled off firearms -- often shotguns -- as fundraisers.

"Trap is a very big deal here," Gauntt said. "In fact, we are the reigning state champions. A kid got a scholarship to the University of the Ozarks for trapshooting. It's not just a hobby here."

The area has a large hunting population and firearms are a part of the culture, Gauntt said, especially during duck season. In fact, gun auctions for the trapshooting club are more like Ducks Unlimited fundraisers, he said.

"The gun isn't even the main draw for these things," he said. "We will have hunting gear and duck calls auctioned off. Last year we had a local breeder donate a chocolate Lab. It's just a different culture here."

Craighead County Treasurer Terry McNatt said he doesn't blame firearms for what occurred in 1998 at Westside Middle School. He isn't bothered by the idea of the latest raffle, either.

"To me, I think that is two different things," said McNatt, who was a deputy in 1998 and was among those who responded to the shooting.

Gauntt said he's received only one email and one phone call from outside the state regarding the fundraiser. Reached Thursday by the Democrat-Gazette, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America said it had no comment regarding plans for the Westside raffle.

Gauntt said the firearm that will be raffled off will not be on campus and will remain in the hands of a licensed arms dealer until a full background check can be completed on the person who wins the firearm.

"We aren't going to give the gun away in the middle of the football field at halftime," Gauntt said. "The gun isn't sitting in my office loaded and ready to go. It's not going to ever be on school grounds."

He does expect a lot of participation in the raffle.

"Honestly," he said, "all the publicity will probably make it the best fundraiser we have had in Westside school history."

State Desk on 09/08/2019

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