Missouri police group pulls plug on raffle of AR-15 rifle

BELTON, Mo. (AP) — A western Missouri police association has pulled the plug on its plan to raffle off an AR-15 rifle in the wake of recent mass shootings. The Belton Police Athletic Association said in a statement Wednesday that it had planned to raffle off the gun as part of its annual fundraiser supporting an anti-drug education program in local schools. Organizers say the decision to include the rifle in this year’s event was made months ago — before a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last week and before a May 14 racist attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket that killed 10 people.