Mission statement:

Armed and Safe is a gun rights advocacy blog, with the mission of debunking the "logic" of the enemies of the Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms.

I can be reached at 45superman@gmail.com.You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/45superman.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Are we men, or mice?

If we're serious about putting the hurt to "Father" Pfleger's civilian disarmament politicking machine, the way to do it (the only way, in my estimation) is to end the free ride he has been getting (for years!) from the IRS. War on Guns did the hard work, and dug up all this material (to which I referred here) to point to--showing how blatantly St. Sabina violates the provisions relating to 501(c)(3) corporations.

Then, he did even more of the work for us, and found an organization, called Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, whose stated mission is blowing the whistle on just the kind of tax violations Pfleger and his minions have gotten away with for so long--even providing their email address: americansunited@au.org. I wanted folks to see this, so for the few who read Armed and Safe, but not War on Guns (what are ya', nuts?), I linked to that blog post, too. I also sent AUSCS an email of my own:

Hello,
After reading this article, I realized you would be just the organization to approach about the gross abuses of the 501(c)(3) status being perpetrated by the St. Sabina Church. The case for this has already been superbly made at War on Guns, so rather than try to repeat that information, I will merely refer you to the link (be sure to check out this page, from St. Savina's website, as well).

I have never seen a church work so overtly, so relentlessly to influence the legislative process. This is a crystal clear violation of tax law. Please take action.

Thank you,
Kurt Hofmann
Today, I received a reply:
Mr. Hofmann,



Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I've forwarded your e-mail to the staffer who handles these claims with a note to follow up immediately.



All the best,

Lauren



****************************************

Lauren Smith

Communications Assistant

Americans United for Separation of Church and State

518 C Street NE

Washington, DC 20002

P: (202) 466-3234

F: (202) 466-3353

www.au.org
Now perhaps I'm just a pessimist, but I think I might detect a bit of an organizational bias at AUSCS that might tend to sympathize with Pfleger's particular type of tax-exempt politicking. I hope they'll pleasantly surprise me, but I believe that for there to be much likelihood of that, they'll have to hear from a lot people urging them to do something about it.

Again, it might be my pessimism, but I get the impression that not many folks are making any noise--even among those who might count themselves among the ranks of "gun rights activists." I'm not saying that from the saddle of my high horse--I haven't done half as much as Mr. Codrea, and Pfleger is in my own state, lobbying for the very laws I'm fighting. Still, if you can't find five minutes to send an email, do you think you really have much use for a Second Amendment? Anyone unwilling to take a couple minutes to write an email is hardly likely to take up arms against an out of control government.

As it happens, War on Guns found even more material today.

Are we going to do anything with it, or not?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I suggest we stage a rally at his church...try to get some media coverage.

I think only signs related to the 501(c)3 issue, nothing about guns, rights, etc.

Kurt '45superman' Hofmann said...

DW, I think that's a good plan for those within striking distance of Chicago, but many (myself included) are not likely to be able to get there for that.

opaww said...

As much as I hated to do it, I sent the IRS a nice letter about his abuse

Anonymous said...

Interestingly enough I got the exact same response to my letter. Word for word.

But I'm certain that "the staffer who handles these claims" will most assuredly "follow up immediately." [/sarcasm]

Kurt '45superman' Hofmann said...

I need to express my appreciation to those who are taking an active role in this.

By the way, Mr. Krafft, I also need to thank you for submitting Armed and Safe blog entries to Keep and Bear Arms--I really appreciate it.

nicolas said...

Crikey, do you all really think that the free speech limitations of 501(c)3's are legitimate? We ought to be writing them to get rid of them, not crying for their enforcement on our enemies!

A man's got to have some principles.

Kurt '45superman' Hofmann said...

Reason, you make a valid point, and I actually wrestled with it (if only briefly) before I decided that I could live with myself for trying to sic the IRS on them.

I agree that taxing "free speech" makes a mockery of the idea of "free," but if anyone is going to be forced to comply by such laws, than all must be.

By the same token, there were some police officers arrested in Illinois with fully automatic weapons. I despise the NFA, the GCA, the Illinois prohibition on fully automatic weapons, and the Hughes Amendment to the FOPA. Still, if the rest of us have to live under those laws, then so should law enforcement (I believe all the cops got off, by the way--but I railed against it).

Anonymous said...

Any weapon is valid in a fight when survival is at stake.

nicolas said...

Like I said Anon, a man's got to have principles.

Our government wasn't supposed to be about which side of the aisle could get enough votes to boss the other side around.

It's not left vs right, it's tyranny against freedom. Which side are you on?