Guns for a Cause raffles Ed Brown 1911 to benefit Kara's HoPE

(Photo: Ed Brown)

A Special Forces Suppressor Ready 1911 from Ed Brown is up for grabs this weekend in a raffle hosted by Guns for a Cause.

The raffle, ending Sunday, benefits Kara’s HoPE to raise funds to help families facing holoprosencephaly, or HPE. This rare birth defect results in incomplete development of the brain in utero. The National Organization for Rare Disorders estimates HPE is present in approximately 1 in 16,000 live births. Costly treatments, insurance delays and travel to even receive care places a large financial burden on families.

The partnership with Guns for a Cause is a three pronged approach: promoting awareness, raising funds and sending one lucky gunner home with a sweet 1911.

The Ed Brown 1911 up for grabs is the 5-inch government model. Chambered in the traditional .45 ACP round, the Special Forces SR incorporates a threaded barrel and comes with a thread protector. The gun stands at 5.5-inches tall and is 8.5-inches long. Weighing in at 40 ounces, this pistol also features Trijicon RMR tall night sights. The 1911 retails for $3,995, but raffle tickets start at $20.

The group behind the raffle, Guns for a Cause, grew out of founder Stuart Palmer’s avid love of firearms. A target shooter and gun collector, Palmer decided to marry his knowledge of nonprofit fundraising from past work with Kara’s HoPE to his passion for promoting guns.

“I was approached by somebody within the industry who wanted to do a raffle for a gunsmith who had cancer. That was outside the (Kara’s HoPE) mission. We thought about how we could do that and we came up with the Guns for a Cause branding,” Palmer told Guns.com in a phone interview. “It sort of seemed like a natural thing.”

From campaigns that help law enforcement and veterans to those supporting medical conditions, the purely online venture champions all sorts of causes. The goal of the organization is to act as an uplifting resource for the gun industry.

“There’s so much negative press about firearms and firearms owners in general,” Palmer said. “Our goal is to be a positive example of what the firearms community can do as a collective.”

Though the Ed Brown pistol is set to end on Sunday, Guns for a Cause has another pistol looking for a new home. The website is hosting a Wilson Combat Vickers Elite giveaway until September. There’s no tickets or donations required, just a name and email to enter.

Information on how to enter the giveaway or participate in the raffle is available on the Guns for a Cause website.