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Wisconsin Republican threatens to quit Rotary because it won’t sponsor gun shows
A Republican state lawmaker is threatening to drop his membership in the West Bend Sunrise Rotary Club because of the service organization’s prohibition against sponsoring gun or knife shows.
Rep. Bob Gannon said this week that he was temporarily leaving his local Rotary club with the expectation he would eventually quit because he can’t support the anti-gun policy.
Gannon is an outspoken support of gun rights.
The head of the Rotary’s district office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Rotary International prohibits accepting a sponsorship or a cooperative relationship that supports “the use of addictive or harmful products and activities including but not limited to alcohol … tobacco, gambling, and weapons or other armaments.”
Gannon says Rotary International “has every right to act like a mini United Nations, but I also have the right to no longer support them.”