Ted Cruz Shotgun Raffle Comes As Obama Considers Gun Control Measures

Ahead of President Barack Obama's scheduled release this week of executive action aimed at controlling guns, a leading Republican presidential candidate was planning to give away a gun. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted Sunday a link to his campaign website, which is raffling off an engraved shotgun this month, the Hill reported.

People don't have to buy anything to enter the giveaway, but they have to be legal residents and least 21 years old. The winner will receive a Remington 11-87 12-gauge shotgun with an engraved Cruz campaign logo on the weapon's stock, according to the website.

"The transfer of the firearm to the winner will be conducted solely through a federally licensed dealer, upon approval of Sponsor, and will be in strict compliance with all applicable federal, state and local laws," the rules read, noting that the winner must pass any necessary background checks. If the winner can't get the gun for any reason, he or she will be given a signed copy of Cruz's 2015 book "A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America."

As of last week, Cruz was in second place among GOP presidential candidates with the support of 17 percent of likely primary voters, according to the HuffPost Pollster. He was trailing real estate mogul Donald Trump, who had 38.6 percent.

Cruz's gun promotion has been running since last month but now will likely coincide with Obama's new measures, which the president began investigating after an October shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, left 10 dead, the Los Angeles Times reported. Obama was scheduled to meet Monday with Attorney General Loretta Lynch to discuss legal options.

Cruz, meanwhile, has come out firmly in support of the Second Amendment. "We don't stop the bad guys by taking away our guns," ABC News reported he said after an attack in San Bernardino, California, killed 14 in December. "We stop the bad guys by using our guns."