NRA Gun Raffle In Brooklyn Gets Blowback After Parkland Shooting

CONEY ISLAND, BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn gun-rights group and a Coney Island restaurant are facing backlash for promoting a National Rifle Association fundraiser after a deadly mass shooting at a Florida high school. Gargiulo's Restaurant, an Italian eatery and catering hall, is set to host an April 12 fundraising dinner for Brooklyn's Friends of NRA where guns will be offered as auction and raffle prizes.

Proceeds from the second annual event will benefit the NRA Foundation, the charity arm of the famous pro-gun group that aims to "benefit shooting sports programs in our communities," according to a flyer posted online.

Tickets start at $75, but Brooklyn's Friends of NRA is offering sponsorships starting at $750 that come with at least one gun. The $5,000 "Patriot" sponsorship gets the buyer two pistols and a rifle along with the evening's meal.

The group is also advertising at least half a dozen guns as auction and raffle prizes, including a "John Wayne Lil' Duke BB Rifle" and a .38-caliber Colt Cobra "double-action" pistol.

Some gun-control advocates in South Brooklyn say it's irresponsible to raffle off dangerous weapons as prizes, especially in the context of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead.

"The idea that people could pay $1,000 a plate and walk out with a firearm is unbelievably concerning," said Mallory McMahon of Bay Ridge, the co-founder of the progressive activist group Fight Back Bay Ridge.

McMahon and others are calling on Gargiulo's to cancel the event and tell Brooklyn's Friends of NRA to find another venue. She said her group is ready to protest outside the event wherever it's held.

Nine people have given the eatery negative Yelp reviews since Friday citing its accommodation of the NRA. The group has drawn ire from gun-control advocates for opposing gun reform despite advocacy from teens who survived the Florida shooting.

Kristen Pettit of Bay Ridge, a founding member of the gun violence prevention group Moms Demand Action, has attended about a dozen "family-friendly and happy" events at Gargiulo's in her lifetime. She said it's an "incredible disappointment" to see the 111-year-old mainstay welcome "a group with such a heinous philosophy."

"I know Brooklyn’s value system as a native of the borough and the NRA’s values don’t fit into it," Pettit said.

Nino Russo, one of Gargiulo's owners, said he's "contractually obligated" to Brooklyn's Friends of NRA, which planned the event long before the Florida shooting. But he understands the concerns and is working with the group to find "some kind of resolution" with the NRA group, though he didn't say what that might be.

"I’m very much sympathetic to these people," Russo said, referring to gun-control advocates. "In my own way I support what’s going on in Florida and my sympathies and prayers go to the victims."

Gargiulo's hosted the inaugural event last spring without any outcry, Russo said, but the restaurant has gotten a recent influx of critical social media posts, phone calls and other messages. He said he's trying to respect all parties' positions and stay "neutral" in the debate that's followed the shooting.

"I hold no bias to anybody who walks in my door," Russo said.

Vincent Sallustro, who's listed as the point of contact on Brooklyn's Friends of NRA's online event listing, declined to discuss the event and referred questions to the NRA's media relations office, saying he's "only a volunteer."

An NRA spokesman did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

The fundraiser is scheduled to take place about three weeks after the March for Our Lives, a March 24 rally for gun control measures. Marches are set to take place in Manhattan, Washington, D.C. and several other cities across the country.

(Lead image: Gargiulo's Restaurant in Coney Island is facing criticism for hosting a fundraiser to benefit the NRA Foundation. Image from Google Maps)