And thanks again for linking!

It’s a wise move. I agree with Bitter that they are within their user agreement, but because their user agreement sucks, I won’t use them.

You may not use the PayPal service for activities that:
2. relate to sales of … (h) ammunition, firearms, or certain firearm parts or accessories…

Clearly, the raffle tickets for a gun “relate” to the sale of firearms, as per the wording of their policies. That’s the user agreement for the entire account, not just the little button for a raffle ticket for a gun. PayPal was well within the authority of the terms that SA agreed to when they opted to do this raffle.

Not being a lawyer with thorough knowledge of all state gambling laws and definitions, I wouldn’t be shocked if PayPal also saw concern with the raffle itself. Another section of the user agreement states:

You may not use the PayPal service for activities that:
6. involve gambling, gaming and/or any other activity with an entry fee and a prize, including, but not limited to casino games, sports betting, horse or greyhound racing, lottery tickets, other ventures that facilitate gambling, games of skill (whether or not it is legally defined as a lottery) and sweepstakes unless the operator has obtained prior approval from PayPal and the operator and customers are located exclusively in jurisdictions where such activities are permitted by law.

So at the very least, I’m quite sure that PayPal also had concerns about this taking place without their knowledge or prior approval, again, as required by the agreement that SA approved when they started the PayPal account. They might have done raffles before using the account, but if they didn’t get prior approval, those were also likely in violation of the terms.

Look, it’s a crappy user agreement for non-profits and/or gun owners. I won’t argue that, but I will say that PayPal was perfectly within the bounds of the user agreement when they suspended the account. SA should have looked into the agreement on both raffle tickets (aka sweepstakes) and gun related sales before agreeing to do this. By not doing so, they were taking a risk. It may have been a calculated risk that PayPal wouldn’t likely find out about it. However, taking such a risk during a major fundraiser was not the wisest move on their part. They got caught in violation on multiple fronts, and they paid the consequences. Fortunately, PayPal has, in my mind, acted very fairly and restored their account minus the offending raffle. It’s not an ideal, but it’s a perfectly fair solution.

I also use PayPal whenever possible to buy gun parts/accessories, just to piss ‘em off. I don’t use PP to sell stuff, so the only thing they can do is to cancel my membership, which they have yet to do.

They will NOT want this spinning out of control, even if they personally hate guns.

But please be polite.