I know I just posted about this last week, but I feel like it is my duty to report that ticket sales for our local Friends of NRA raffle are going slow. As in so slow, that I took out 100 tickets from the stash to sell, and I’ve still got like 50 of them – and that’s after I sold some at a gun show recently.
I’ve heard from folks that they just assumed we would sell out quickly due to the nature of the raffle, but we haven’t. We still have lots of tickets.
So, at this point, the odds of a blog reader who buys tickets winning, are fantastic. Even if we did somehow hit a busy period and sell out, the odds per ticket are 1 in 60. For only $20, and the fact that we’re drawing 5 times, make this a pretty awesome opportunity to win.
Since it’s been a common question, if you buy multiple tickets, you can, in theory, win multiple guns. We don’t pull your other tickets out if we draw your name for one of the first guns. All ticket stubs remain in the jar until we run out of guns to give away.
Whether you want the Taurus featured here, the Colt in the original post (which also has the raffle details, so please check it out), the Kimber in last week’s post, or one of the two Kahr 1911A1s I haven’t yet posted, then email me so I can send you the information on how to buy tickets.
If you already emailed me and just haven’t gotten around to formally ordering a ticket, then there are still tickets available!
I’ll chime in and say that the value of the items auctioned, the odds of winning, and the ticket price make this a really good deal. I’m surprised you’re not selling them faster.
Bitter, check your Email… I’m interested in 3 tickets but having problems purchasing by check.
Ah I’ve been slacking in sending you the money. I’ll do it tonight!
I would like to buy a ticket.
How do I do that?
Thanks.
DCP
sent email
I need to buy a few tickets for my parents and brother…
I would also buy one, but I long ago gave up on checks. My “checking” account is checkless. I pay electronically (Credit/Drbit Card or Paypal) or use cash.
I’d like to buy one, please email me Paypal details
No online sale….. Sales are slow…. Imagine that.
Sent email, will follow directions when I get a reply!
If this allowed for online sales, all tickets would have been sold by day one, (I would have purchased a couple myself).
I’m sure you have your reasons why you opted out, but for the life of me, I can’t imagine what they are.
Good luck!
Snail mail with MO sent today.
Wish I had $20 to spare…….
Blew all my money on gas and ammo this month.
Yes, Bob’s Army & Navy store in Clearfield PA has ammo, except 22LR for some reason. Call before you drive to be sure they got what you want.
Thank you to all of you who emailed! You really have no idea how much we appreciate the support you show for the effort to get more people exposed the joys of the shooting sports.
To address the comments about online sales. Look, it’s not the most ideal set up. I get that. Folks don’t have to complain about it in every single post. A simple decision not to purchase will suffice in sending a market message. I can respect that, even if we would love to have the support.
That said, we didn’t “opt out” of anything. There is no magic internet fairy who creates online payment systems tied to individual Friends of NRA committee accounts that is programmed to make it easy to accept the varieties of payments we have to receive – banquet tickets, raffle tickets, game playing money, package tickets, etc. Hell, not even the NRA system for buying banquet tickets online will allow us to sell our various types of banquet tickets! I’ve beaten my head against a desk over that problem every year for three years now.
Not to mention, it’s not just an internet fairy concern, it’s also a legal issue in regards to how various jurisdictions view games of chance ticket sales. I know that we’re covered with our state license, but even that law is supposed to change within the next year. (This will be the second major overhaul in nearly as many years.) But I don’t know how other jurisdictions view online sales, and I don’t want to assume that setting up some kind of Paypal account tied to the committee’s bank account is automatically okay.
The current set up is just like what a local buyer would have to do if they didn’t personally know a committee member or run into our table at a gun show. (In fact, those who have let me know they are local readers have received the information on our next gun show appearances so that they may choose to buy tickets in person.)
If you saw our posters at local gun clubs or gun shops, you’d have to contact our committee chair and then, if an in person transaction couldn’t be arranged, then you’d be directed to mail him a check and he’d get back to you with a ticket stub. I go a step further because I let buyers who emailed me for information know when I’m sending their tickets out and what numbers they can expect to receive in the event the post office loses the stubs. (The actual ticket entries go into the “pot” to be drawn at purchase, so the stubs are just like a receipt or acknowledgment more than anything of value to the drawing itself.)
So I hope that you guys can see that not selling online isn’t some decision we came to because we somehow wanted to make it harder to sell tickets. It’s something we would have to create, and even if we used Paypal, there could be legal or regulation issues. Plus, would Paypal even allow it, or would it be considered selling a gun that they restrict? Do they restrict raffle sales? They may not want to wade into the various state and local laws on the matter. It’s not just something we can casually set up and not think about the potential consequences.
If it makes a difference, in the Bitter Utopian Government, there would be no concerns about rules and regulations on such actual online transactions in raffles. Of course, as long as I get to create my utopia, maybe I could create a magic internet fairy, too. Unfortunately, I’m not in charge of the universe…yet.
Well, it was a little delayed due to vacation, but I sent you a check yesterday for 5 tickets. Now it is up to snail mail.
That’s fine. I’ll set aside the tickets I have in my hand now, and a few more from the committee-wide stash when I get to it this weekend. In fact, any order received prior to Saturday will be processed before we make tickets available at the gun show.