County sheriff planned to raise campaign cash in gun raffle. Then Florida shooting happened.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Irwin Carmichael has canceled a re-election campaign raffle of firearms, including assault rifles of the kind used to kill 17 people Wednesday at a Florida school, that was to be held Saturday.

Carmichael tweeted about the event in November, picturing 15 handguns and long guns including three semiautomatic assault-style rifles. Raffle tickets were $50 each or three for $100.

“My heartfelt condolences go out to the victims and families of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida,” Carmichael said in a statement Thursday. “In the wake of this tragedy, I am cancelling Saturday’s gun raffle event and all raffle tickets purchased will be refunded. As the elected Sheriff, I fully understand the difference between responsible gun ownership and senseless gun violence and holding a gun raffle would not serve to advance the values close to my heart or the principles of my Office.”

The November tweet, and a post for the raffle on Carmichael’s re-election Facebook page, were deleted Thursday morning.

Carmichael told WSOC last November that such raffles are effective fundraisers. “I support the Second Amendment and I got a lot of supporters who support the Second Amendment,” he told the Charlotte TV station.

Reaction to announcement of the raffle in November was mixed.

“I think that it’s the wrong tone to set. I think it’s extraordinarily insensitive,” Colette Forrest told Spectrum News. “I could not believe that a local elected official would be so insensitive to use guns as a fundraising tool and not just regular guns but Glocks, and AK and AR-7s.”

Carmichael, a retired Charlotte firefighter elected sheriff in 2014, is a karate expert who developed a personal safety and awareness program called Women’s Awareness Response. He also produced a child safety and abduction video, according to his campaign website.

This story was originally published February 15, 2018 at 2:09 PM with the headline "County sheriff planned to raise campaign cash in gun raffle. Then Florida shooting happened.."