Rick Scott to headline gun raffle 3 months after Parkland shooting

Just three months after the deadly Parkland school shooting, Florida Gov. Rick Scott is slated to headline a GOP event featuring, of all things, a handgun giveaway.

The Hillsborough County GOP announced this week that Scott will be the keynote speaker at its annual Lincoln Day Dinner on May 21.

The dinner, described by Hillsborough County Republican Party Chairman Jim Waurishukmost as the “most lavish and exciting annual Republican political event in Hillsborough County,” will also include an appearance by Attorney General Pam Bondi, along with several local GOP congressmen.

But the speakers list is just the warmup. The highlight of the annual fundraising event is a raffle — and this year, the prize is a handgun.

According to FloridaPolitics.com, guests who purchase tickets for the raffle will get a chance to win a Colt pistol valued at $949.

While all attendees can buy tickets for the gun giveaway, those with extra cash to spare can pay $20,000 to buy a seat at the governor’s table — an offer that also comes with 20 chances to win the Colt firearm.

“There is no small irony in an event that features Scott and a raffle of a handgun (particularly a Colt), considering the Florida Governor’s history of mingling guns and jobs, two issues that served as cornerstones of his political career,” FloridaPolitics.com noted.

Scott is also scheduled to be a featured speaker at the NRA Leadership Forum in May, though he’s done his best to hide his close relationship with the radical gun group in the aftermath of the February school shooting in Parkland.

Scott — who announced this month that he is running for the U.S. Senate — has spent much of his time as governor enacting the NRA’s agenda in Florida.

With an A+ rating from the NRA, Scott’s legislative history includes “lifting restrictions on guns, preventing doctors from asking patients about their weapons, opposing stricter background checks and cutting the cost of getting a concealed weapon license.”

In 2014, the NRA celebrated Scott for signing “more pro-gun bills into law in one term than any other governor in Florida history.”

Following the Parkland shooting — the third horrific mass shooting in Florida in less than 18 months — Scott went into hiding and tried to shed his image as a radical pro-gun foot soldier.

But now that he’s hitting the campaign trail again, Scott needs the NRA’s endorsement — and its cash.

His appearance at the Lincoln Day Dinner is just a symptom of a larger problem. It’s a reflection of his loyalties as governor, and a sign of his future priorities if he makes it to the Senate.