Category: Anti-Gun Folks

Looks like there was a mole in the gun control movement.  Usually when this kind of thing happens, paranoia sets in, and further people are suspected of being moles.  Hey Peter, Doug… Paul is a Republican.  From a very pro-gun state.  Haven’t you found that to be a little suspicious?  Just sayin.  If you want to find out the truth on this matter, I would suggest following these instructions.  My understanding is that it’s very effective.

But in all seriousness, I don’t know how much useful intelligence can actually be gleaned by this kind of activity.  I mean, the gun control groups aren’t exactly a secret society, and neither is the National Rifle Association.  Michael Moore is famously an NRA Life Member with an eye on getting other anti-gun folks to join and take over the organization.  It’s not a new idea.

I can’t say I really condone or approve of what McFate/Sapone did in this circumstance, mostly because, as a gun rights activist, I don’t really think whatever information can be gleaned from such activity is worth the amount of support I’d have to provide my political opponents to obtain it.  So says Bryan Miller:

The McFate operation, says Miller, “would confirm for me the way that the gun lobby works, which is no rules, no question of fairness or honesty. Anything that they can do they will do to protect the profits of the gun industry.”

Pot, meet kettle.  I agree with Bryan that tactics like this are dishonest, and not on the up and up, but there’s nothing fair or honest about politics, and the gun control movement has not exactly played clean and honest either.  Bryan, particularly, regularly misrepresents what legislation his organization supports is intended to do.  I would be happy to play the game clean… but if we did that, people would see the truth about gun control.  Can’t have that.

According to the Brady Campaign, the church shooter in Knoxville used a super-deadly high powered common bird gun to carry out his deadly rampage.   Far cry from what they were saying yesterday, which implied it was one of those super-scary Saiga-12s which, you know, fire the exact same shell.

Bitter managed to talk to Clear Channel about the MAG advertising campaign.  Seems they plead ignorance to the exact nature of Moms Against Guns:

So, ignorance is no excuse, right? I would agree with that to a point. We all have biases. What concerns me is how this got so far – 30+ freakin’ billboards (which Clear Channel did acknowledge were mostly donated by them since Interstate is a smaller company) – without someone raising an alarm. That, they agreed, needed to be investigated internally. That’s refreshing honesty.

But the real meat of it is this:

So the next step was for Clear Channel’s rep to call the lead Mom who, it turns out, is self funding the group. Only that conversation lead her to discover that the group isn’t registered as a charity at all. It’s registered as an LLC, and they have no intent of going for non-profit status.

This was a bit of a shock to them. Clear Channel was lead to believe they were doing a PSA for a charitable organization. Yet, instead, their donations have been used for political advocacy for essentially a business.  There will no doubt be more to come of this, and I know I am on their call list when they get it resolved.

But, for kicks, here’s another layer to this huge legal misunderstanding, I do actually know of a group that has a huge ad campaign with Clear Channel right now, though in another market. I think I’ll save most of that news for tomorrow in case there are developments to that story.

Read the whole thing though.  Bitter has done a fine job not only as an amateur journalist, but in wielding her influence and PR acumen skillfully.  We’re very much hoping that Clear Channel Outdoors pulls their advertising campaign for Moms Against Guns.  Getting pressure from the greater community certainly has helped in this case, so thanks to everyone who called or e-mailed.  If you haven’t already, feel free to call your local Clear Channel Outdoors office and inform them that you are unhappy.  Especially if you own a business that purchases outdoor advertising.  Let’s make sure they do the right thing here.

So if Moms Against Guns is not a non-profit group, and is a corporation, what is the deal behind Clear Channel Outdoors and Interstate Outdoor Advertising donating billboards to them?  Are these two companies aware they just made a major donation to a for-profit corporation?

That would lead me to believe that Clear Channel Outdoors and Interstate Outdoor Advertising are simply going out of their way to screw Pennsylvania gun owners in the November 2008 elections.

Bitter has more on this whole thing.

Yesterday we reviewed the very large donation by Clear Channel Outdoors and Interstate Advertising to Moms Against Guns.  MAG is incorporated as a non-profit under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS tax code. [UPDATE: They are not incorporated as a 501(c)(3), but rather, as a limited liability company.  In other words, they are a for-profit corporation.  This is very very unusual, needless to say.]  This essentially means that MAG is limited in the amount of lobbying activity it may do.  Typically these may not exceed 15% of donations.  Electioneering on the part of a (c)(3) is completely forbidden by the IRS tax codes.

I would note from the Inquirer article yesterday:

The billboards will stay up through November’s elections – just long enough, the group says, for voters to elect candidates willing to crack down on illegal guns.

This is electioneering under IRS rules because they are trying to influence the outcome of elections.  Also from the article:

The group is working on getting 50,000 signatures for a petition on its Web site (http://www.momsagainstguns.org) urging state lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws. The petition has nearly 4,500 so far.

Petitioning the legislature would probably be considered lobbying by the IRS, which means the billboards are meant to get people to sign the petition, and fall under the category of lobbying.  It’s worth noting that the going market rate for these billboards is considered the amount of the donation being made to MAG on the part of Clear Channel and Interstate.  This means if this amount is in excess of about fifteen MAG’s total donations for the year, they are in violation of the tax codes.

This is important, because gun rights groups follow the rules on these matters, so MAG is abusing its tax status to get an unfair leg up in an election they, by law, should not even be participating in.  The IRS is currently cracking down on this kind of abuse under it’s Political Activities Compliance Initiative.  I’m going to ask everyone to please visit the IRS website that has the information required to report violations by tax exempt organizations, and report Moms Against Guns.

If MAG gets their 501(c)(3) tax status revoked, they will be forced to track down all their donors, and inform them that their donations for the year will not be tax deductible.  This is usually the kiss of death for a non-profit.  You have a chance here to contribute to killing off a gun control group, folks.  The gun control groups love to try to pass laws that subject the shooting community to poking and prodding by government agents.  When the IRS is probing into orafices MAG was never even aware they had, you can sit back and enjoy the fact that they’ve had a taste of their own medicine.

UPDATE: Hold on Folks.  We may have all been mislead here.   MAG seems to be incorporated as a business entity rather than a non-profit charity.

UPDATE: Yes, Moms Against Guns is a corporation, not a non-profit.

UPDATE: See this post.

Mom’s Against Guns are being given free billboards in Philadelphia:

The billboards come free from Clear Channel Outdoor Philadelphia and Interstate Outdoor Advertising, two locally based firms.

“We didn’t think a billboard was going to make a difference,” said Drew Katz, chief executive officer of Interstate. “Thirty billboards might make a difference.”

The slew of billboards reflects a sense of urgency as gun violence continues to claim lives.

Here’s contact information for Clear Channel Outdoors.  Here is the contact information for Interstate Outdoor Advertising.  Be sure to let them know you think if they are going to give free advertising space to gun control groups they should offer the same to gun rights organizations like the NRA Foundation.   Be sure to spread this around the forums too, we certainly want these two companies to feel the heat.

UPDATE: Bitter is looking for more ideas for billboard advertising.

Joe Huffman finds a web site that looks at a possible inverse relationship between the Brady Campaign State Rankings and violent crime.  What happens in the comments isn’t something you’ll see the other side doing.  Ever.  Joe points out he came to the same conclusion with the 2004 Brady rankings.

Having no correlation may not be as good as an inverse relationship, but it’s still pretty damning to the gun control agenda.  If it can’t be shown to affect crime, why bother?  I still say their transition to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Suicide is a strategic move, but at least it’ll make them a bit more honest.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting (thank God) delegate to the House for Washington D.C. wants people to just say no to “the gun culture”.

As registration of guns began today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) called on residents to refuse to buy into the gun culture by just saying no. The Supreme Court has spoken, the District has acted and now it is up to citizens to do their part, she said. “If the great majority of residents, who supported our gun ban, meant it, now is the time to show it. I challenge every resident not to buy a gun. Don’t buy into the gun culture in our streets by bringing it into our homes with the gun you buy. It’s up to us now.”

I don’t think Norton has the first clue about the “gun culture”.  You see, I am from this culture, and so are many of the people I know.  Yet we are all good citizens.  What Norton is basically saying is that if you buy a gun you’ll either end up shot or end up a criminal.  She’s basically saying that DC residents are too irresponsible and criminal to own guns.

Someone pointed out that The Brady Campaign managed to corner the market on Carry Permit Holders as a search term. Well, not we in the gun blogosphere are getting our google-fu on.  Watch as we drive them down the list!  Robb is also getting his carry permit holder google-fu going.