Emergency Service
Gun Raffle To Benefit Shot Copper
January 26, 2011 
A Nampa copper who got shot in the line of duty stands to benefit from the raffle of a handgun at a fund raising concert, according to KTVB.
For some reason the name of the copper is being kept secret, but he is being nicknamed the “Miracle on 4th Street” in light of his surviving a shot to the face while serving a warrant.
As if that name isn’t enough, one of the organizers of the fund raiser is named officer DRINKWINE…that may be a real name too!
For us the raffle of a gun to help a shooting victim makes about as much sense as free booze to help someone injured by a drunk driver.
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Comments & Discussion
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© 2011 Boise Guardian. 
Jan 26, 2011, 9:49 am
Let’s help a victim of gun crime out by putting another gun on the streets!
Jan 26, 2011, 10:01 am
I assume maybe you’re just trying to get a rise out of the gun-totin’ Guardian readers. (Or maybe I’m the only NRA Life Member who reads almost every word the Guardian writes.)
Your analogy is correct, however. Neither booze or guns cause problems independently. Both are inanimate. It’s when they are misused by irresponsible or criminal or incompetent people, that problems arise.
Sgt. Drinkwine (!): “We have in our country the right to own guns, and that’s not the problem, it’s not the ownership of guns, it’s what people do with them that causes the problems.”
Jan 26, 2011, 2:26 pm
I wonder how many people with conceal carry permits have ever been convicted of a gun related crime? Former Sheriff of Canyon County Geoge Nourse claimed that number to be a big fat ZERO during his tenure as Sheriff. You simply can’t improve on that statistic.
There was a time when I was an advocate of stronger gun control laws but not anymore. I think it reasonable for law abiding citizens to own and have access to purchase guns.
Guns alone are not the only way to carry out a violent act. Add to that they happen in an instant. An ICE pick or any other sharp instrument can be used to inflict harm down to a sharp #2 pencil.
Mentally defincient people are all around us and most are harmless. The dangerous nutty people do not wear a sign and it is a civic responsiblity to pay attention in public gatherings.
Crime rates are down all over the country and I would like to think we have, over time, become weary of violence as a society. I feel safer in the USA than any other place I have traveled in the world.
Jan 26, 2011, 2:36 pm
Hopefully, the police officer will receive workman’s comp. The raffle of a gun and accessories is in poor taste, in my humble opinion. I bet generous folks, cops and non-cops alike, would contribute to a fund established through a bank. Tough times for this officer and his family. Best wishes to them.
KTA
Jan 26, 2011, 4:02 pm
They want to raffle something folk will want and perhaps the Policeman, like most, is aware that the gun didn’t shoot him, some bad guy did.
Jan 26, 2011, 10:01 pm
Yeah, it IS kinda in poor taste. But, that aside, we don’t need fewer guns, we need better people. By better I mean better educated and governed by better politicians who aren’t in the pocket of some corporate lobby.
And to those of you who say that the guy in Tucson was nuts and should have been institutionalized, I say: Are you willing to back that up by changes to mental health laws and increased mental health funding?
Jan 27, 2011, 6:41 pm
Remember, the courts gave us the mentally ill ‘homeless’ and made it very hard to lock up folk until the actually DO something..
Jan 27, 2011, 9:58 pm
Hi JIMV,
I am old enough to remember when President Reagan cut funding to mental institutions and dumped all the people in these mental facilities out on the streets in the mid-1980’s. It created a situation where the only place these people had when they got their meds out of balance is county jails and state prisons. Most of these people are nonviolent but there are some that are and they do not wear big signs pointing out they are about to nut-up and do something bad.
I am not a fan of big government spending but I did and still do think is was a huge mistake to dump these people out on the streets to fend for themselves in the “land of the free and the home of the brave”. It bothers me that we as a citizen of this country we can’t do better for these people.
Don’t know what the numbers are for mentally deranged people doing bad things was prior to the closing of mental hospitals nor will I pretend to know what they are now but it is something to think about.
Jan 27, 2011, 11:01 pm
The target group of the raffle is other police officers to support another police officer who got shot.
If you want to raffle something a cop might actually purchase a ticket for, I would hazard a guess you won’t sell too many raffle tickets for a basket of scentsy candles or the like.
In poor taste? Maybe. But they will probably sell all their raffle tickets will be my guess.
Jan 27, 2011, 11:03 pm
Don’t pretend it was Reagan…look to the do gooders for the mentally ill…they took the issue to court and forced the states to let a lot of folk who needed care loose…
Remember, this happened BEFORE Reagan was President…
http://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/30/science/how-release-of-mental-patients-began.html
Jan 27, 2011, 11:05 pm
Makes perfect sense to me. Not only do we live in Idaho the gun raffle for the shot cop is in Canyon County.
What part don’t you understnd?
Jan 28, 2011, 11:27 am
Actually, the Scentsy basket is a good idea for female cops. I doubt many of the women on the force want to waltz home and announce: “Hi honey, kids, guess what, I won a gun!”
Continued best wishes for a speedy recovery for the wounded policeman.
Jan 29, 2011, 11:41 am
Did anyone ask the the man what he thinks? I bet if he were opposed to a gun sale, it wouldn’t be happening? What a very dangerous job they have.
(which leads to another thought)Cops and Teachers and Nurses and Fireman and a few other frontline service people need to have more of a voice in policy making effecting their workplace… no not their union hacks or retired folk either… The people currently in those positions. For example, every school board should have at least two current teachers on it.