SPOKANE — State Republicans will have a chance to bid on the type of rifle at the center of the current gun-control vs. gun rights debate, an AR-15, at their spring fundraiser this weekend.
But state GOP Chairman Kirby Wilbur said auctioning off the semi-automatic rifle is not a pro-gun statement. Washington Republicans are pretty much pro-gun already.
“It’s a pro-fundraising statement,” party spokesman Keith Schipper quoted Wilbur as saying.
The AR-15, manufactured by Olympic Arms Inc. of Olympia and donated by Washington Arms Collectors, tops the list of auction items on the party’s website announcement of the Spring Gala Dinner and Auction. Also up for bid: a tour of the U.S. Capitol and lunch with U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, an African photo safari, and lunch at the home of former state Attorney General Rob McKenna.
The spring dinner is one of two big fundraisers the local party throws each year. Schipper said they don’t release goals for what they hope to raise.