Shoot for the Cure: Susan G. Komen Charity Event Raises Money With Riflery
Late late week, Runnin' Scared got word that the pink firearm fiasco might not have been as much a false-alarm as had been claimed: A source told us that Susan G. Komen for the Cure and guns go back a bit, and furnished us with several links suggesting that this might be the case. 
Since then, we've been trying to figure out what exactly the deal is -- are gun companies and hobbyist groups just using the pink banner to sell products and market events, or is there an official connection to Komen or its affiliates?
While we still don't have a definitive answer on guns (nobody is returning our calls on that issue), we do know this: The Illinois State Rifle Association's Shoot for the Cure got the OK from one of the state's Komen chapters.
"It's like a Run for the Cure, except you don't run -- you actually buy shots and shoot at targets and that sort of thing, and you're welcome to buy as many targets as you wish," Richard Pearson, the group's executive director, told Runnin' Scared.
"We did it with their permission and we raised some money for them, and we plan to do it bigger and better this year."
Pearson said the Association raised about $500 with the event, which had from 70 to 80 participants.
"We have 3500 women in our Association and all of them have been affected by breast cancer at some point," said Pearson, whose mother had a mastectomy due to misdiagnosis.
"I'm interested in getting this disease behind us."
A staffer at the Central Illinois Komen branch confirmed that the group had permission to use the non-profit's name for the shoot-a-thon.
He said that qualifying third parties must sign contracts and that the requirements are available online.
State affiliates, he said, can't use the Komen brand for an event that conflicts with the national headquarters's bylaws.
Follow Victoria Bekiempis @vicbekiempis.
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