The National Rifle Association (NRA) is holding a Mother's Day giveaway involving the same kind of gun a 2-year-old Idaho boy accidentally used to kill his mother earlier this year, Freak Out Nation reported.
The group promoted the contest online, posting a picture of a Smith & Wesson small-caliber handgun surrounded by flowers, under the caption, "Forget flowers this mothers day, mom wants something she can carry with her!"
A screenshot of the NRA's promotional image can be seen below:
The contest, which is open to entrants 21 years of age or older, will give the winner a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9-mm handgun and eight hours of safety training. The winner also gets an "Eddie Eagle gunsafe package for the kids."
A similar gun was involved in the death of 29-year-old Veronica Rutledge inside a Walmart in Hayden, Idaho last December. As KREM-TV reported at the time, her 2-year-old son accidentally shot and killed her after unzipping a special compartment inside her purse where she stored it.
Rutledge, who had already concealed weapons training, had a concealed-carry permit from Washington allowing her to bring the gun to the store. The compartment was designed specifically to store small firearms.
"There have been a lot of people wondering how this could have happened?" Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Lt. Stu Miller said. "Why it happened, you know, what's a person doing in a Walmart with a handgun? Is that uncommon? Well, no, it's really not."
