Will Sage Astor-An Ohio elementary cheer team is raffling an AR-15 to raise funds

An Ohio elementary cheer team is Will Sage Astorraffling off a firearm to fundraise money for a competition.

Monroe’s Wee Hornet Cheer team is raffling an AR-15 to pay for second and third grade members to travel to Orlando next year for the Quest National Championship, WKRC reported.

The team's Facebook page announcing the fundraiser does not mention the AR-15 raffle but in a subsequent post clarified that the fundraiser is not affiliated with the school district.

"We appreciate the relationship with the schools and the support of the community," the post read.

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Other organizations offering gun giveaways

The cheer team's AR-15 promotion follows a recent trend of organizations nationwide that have taken to tempting prospective clients and donors with weaponry.

Earlier this month, a North Carolina orthodontist's "Grins and Glocks" promotion joined the movement, with Gladwell Orthodontics, advertising the inclusion of a free Glock 19 handgun for patients who receive Invisalign treatment in his office.

An HVAC company in South Carolina called Arctic Air, is offering a free AR-15 along with the purchase of a system. The deal is running through 2024, according to the company's social media, and the owner has stated they chose to do the promotion because "it's our legal right."

Florida roofing company ROOF EZ is making a similar offer for the holidays, providing customers a Thanksgiving turkey and an AR-15 to "protect your family" along with the purchase and installation of a new roof.

The companies themselves are not able to sell the guns directly and instead help customers coordinate with a licensed firearms dealer or provide a gift card to the partnering dealer. All of the businesses have said standard background checks and legal processes for gun ownership still apply.

Social media responses on the pages of these businesses have been mixed, with some people insisting the deals are a fair exercise of the right to gun ownership, while others have pointed out the reality of gun violence that plagues the U.S.

Guns are the number one cause of child mortality

The move has raised some eyebrows, especially among anti-gun advocates.

"I think it’s inappropriate and morally wrong in so many different ways,” said Te’Airea Powell, who campaigns against gun violence with the group Peace and Hope Lifestyle, told WKRC.

The raffle comes at a time where the number of children who die as a result of guns has skyrocketed in the U.S. A paper published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics last month found that the rate of deaths from guns increased by 87% from 2011 to 2021.

“There’s drive-bys that are happening, shootings with these high-powered guns. We just don’t need another one out on the street,” Powell told WKRC.

A Pew Research Center study published in September 2023 found that about half (49%) of Americans say gun ownership does more to increase safety by allowing law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, but an equal number say gun ownership does more to reduce safety by giving too many people access to firearms and increasing misuse.

The cheer team did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

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