The Pima County Republican Party is flat-out insensitive, ignorant and inexplicably unintelligent. Earlier this month, the Pima County Republican Party announced it would hold a get-out-the-vote auction fundraiser as a sort of gearing up for the election cycle. No harm there. Unfortunately, Republicans are auctioning off a handgun, a Glock 23 to be specific, that comes complete with three 12-round magazines and a case. Now there’s a problem.

Now, before your red Republican blood starts to boil over, let it be acknowledged that the Republicans are well within their rights to not only auction this weapon off, but to own a gun in the first place. But just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. A political party auctioning off a gun, just a mere eight months after their opposing party had a member gunned down just doesn’t seem to be the best idea.

Many people have issues with this because it’s just too soon and draws too much unneeded attention to the Pima County Republican Party, even some Republicans within the party agree with this sentiment. Some are against it because it’s insensitive. Some are against this because it just so happens that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot by a man who was using a Glock. Of course, Republicans are quick to point out that the gun used in the shootings was a Glock 19 9 millimeter, and the gun being auctioned off is a Glock 23. Stop it. It’s not like we’re talking apples and oranges here. A Glock is a Glock, and honestly a gun is a gun. Yeah, they all have different firepower, different range, etc. But they’re all still guns, and it’s still senseless to auction one off when such a tragedy happened only a short time ago.

In response to the relative backlash, the Pima County Republican Party quickly responded by adding a second gun to the auction. Not only are they auctioning off a Glock, they’re now auctioning off a rifle. Good idea. When someone gets mad at you for doing something dumb, you respond by doing something to make matters worse.

In trying to understand this issue it’s clear that there are many different takes on this matter. There are some who just want to raise money for their party’s election cycle, there are those who will draw conclusions that it’s intentionally insensitive that they’re auctioning off a gun of similarity to the one used in the shooting, and there are some who flat-out believe it’s legal, but horribly insensitive.

So how about you just auction off something else Pima County Republicans? Surely you can find something else your party’s supporters will enjoy. Certainly there can be something else that’s equally as stereotypical of the textbook conservative agenda that you could raffle off. Prove that you’re not intolerant, ignorant, and insensitive. This isn’t about gun rights; it’s about human emotions and respect. We know your idea isn’t intentionally malicious, but this decision is intentionally ignorant.

— Editorials are determined by the Daily Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Kristina Bui, Storm Byrd, Nicole Dimtsios and Steven Kwan. They can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.