NEW HYDE PARK, NY — A New York state senator who called on a New Hyde Park venue to cancel a fundraiser for the National Rifle Association plans to introduce legislation that would ban gun raffles.

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Democratic State Sen. Jim Gaughran, who has an office in Syosset and whose district includes the northern portions of the Towns of Huntington and Oyster Bay, asked The Inn at New Hyde Park to reconsider hosting the fundraiser. The event, slated for Thursday, is meant to celebrate a legacy of shooting sports traditions, and will feature dinner, raffles and auctions, according to a flyer from the Nassau County Friends of NRA. Attendees could win NRA guns, gear, decor and collectibles.

Gaughran, whose district does not include New Hyde Park, did the same last year, but was told his request had come too late for them cancel.

Ahead of the fundraiser, Gaughran said Monday his legislation, which is similar to bills proposed in the state Assembly, would ban guns from being given as prizes in games of chance. The senator specifically cited that the New Hyde Park NRA raffle would include guns and parts for what he called weapons of war, such as attachments for the semi-automatic AR-15, an assault-style rifle used in deadly mass shootings in Parkland, Florida; Sandy Hook, Connecticut; Las Vegas and Pittsburgh.

“You shouldn’t be able to simply walk into a catering venue and walk out owning a firearm,” said Gaughran. “This law will protect public safety and advance New York’s commitment to common sense gun reform. You can’t raffle off a bottle of wine, so why can you raffle off a weapon of war?”

But Laurence Dittmer, one of the founding members of the inaugural NRA committee and former member of the Nassau County Friends of NRA, told Patch in an email Monday no AR-15-style guns or parts were available at last year’s event, nor will there be this year.

“Sen. Gaughran is simply trying to do everything he can to associate all law-abiding gun owners (and NRA members) and reputable and respectable firearms events with criminals, mass-murders, terrorists, gang members and drug-dealers,” said Dittmer.

Among the prizes this year: the 2019 gun of the year set, a Sig Sauer P210 American Standard 9 mm pistol, decked out with a Friends of NRA decal. Other prizes include a Kimber Micro 9 mm with NRA logo, Henry single shot brass .45-70 with a logo, and Mossberg 500 Pump-Action 12-gauge shotgun combo.

Dittmer said attendees will not be able to literally walk out with guns at the organization’s dinner events. Attendees must buy a ticket in advance and anyone who wins a gun must pass the same background check that any other American must go through at a gun show or gun store.

“ALL federal state and locals laws are adhered to,” he stressed. “There is no reduction in safety to any degree. In fact people have been denied firearms over the years at Friends of NRA events due to that they did not pass the background check.”

He called the timing of the proposed legislation to coincide with the fundraiser “completely unwarranted, unnecessary and utterly disreputable.”

“In view of the fact that there has never been a single reported case of a firearm obtained from a Friends of NRA event used in the commission of a crime, since this events inception 27 years ago — what this amounts to is nothing more than political grandstanding by a freshman state senator,” said Dittmer.

Last year’s fundraiser was nearly filled to capacity, with nearly 600 people attending. The event drew only a few protesters outside, he said.

A single dinner ticket costs $65, with a table for 10 running $600. A Charlton Heston table for 10 costs $2,000.

Dittmer told Patch he invites Gaughran to talk with about the issue of guns.

A message left with The Inn wasn’t immediately returned.