Get off your ass and help strike down proposed IRS Revenue Ruling 2004-6

I got an email from Gun Owners of America today. Did you know that in the face of McConnel vs. FEC, the IRS is now trying to get Revenue Ruling 2004-6 passed?

In a nutshell, it would do the following (quoted from the email text, and also found here):

* Unlike McCain-Feingold, the proposed Revenue Ruling would not be restricted to broadcast ads. Rather, it would apply to newspaper ads, e-mail alerts, newsletters, and other communications by organizations such as GOA.

* Unlike McCain-Feingold, the proposed Revenue Ruling would not automatically exempt communications which occurred more than 60 days prior to an election -- or which fell below a certain monetary threshold.

* Unlike McCain-Feingold, the proposed Revenue Ruling would contain no fixed standards for compliance. Rather every GOA newsletter or alert would have to be published with the realization that the government, after the fact, could apply its vague criteria to determine that is was "impermissible."

In other words, this is a blatant attempt to muzzle organizations like the GOA and NRA. It would become so difficult to send communications to subscribers, that it may well end in silencing these sorts of organizations. With voters being denied a resource that helps then understand the 2^nd Amendment issues of the day, they might miss crucial opportunities to make a stand against ridiculous, and even dangerous, controls like the one proposed by the IRS.

Thus will our rights to not only keep and bear arms, but to watchdog our own government, and speak freely--whether face-to-face, or in a written media-- be undermined.

Our representatives have until January 26^th to comment on this proposal, and strike it down.

I urge all my regular readers to get out there and get active on this matter. Write and call your representatives today. Have them write the IRS and demand that they withdraw proposed Revenue Ruling 2004-6. You can contact your Representative and Senators by visiting the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to send them a pre-written e-mail message.

Feel free, even, to use this form letter provided by the GOA:

Dear

The proposed IRS Revenue Ruling 2004-6 is an abomination.

It would put the government in charge of determining whether a broad range of newsletters, alerts, and other communications would be "allowed" by organizations such as Gun Owners of America and the National Rifle Association.

Unlike McCain-Feingold -- which was bad enough -- the proposed Revenue ruling would not be limited to broadcast ads. It would have no monetary threshold. And it would not be automatically inapplicable to communications which occur over 60 days before a general election.

Please write the Internal Revenue Service by January 26, 2004 and ask it to withdraw this ill-consider ruling. When submitting your comments to the IRS, please address your letter to the attention of Judy Kindell, T:EO:RA:G, 1111 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20224.

Sincerely,

Please note that activities like this have had success in the past. GOA offers up the following example:

"For example, when GOA learned that an anti-gun rider had been placed on a Defense authorization bill in September 2000, GOA alerted its members to this provision which would have allowed the Dept. of Defense to confiscate and destroy any military surplus item that had ever been sold by the government.

M1 Carbines, 1903 Springfields, Colt SAAs, uniforms, ammo, scopes -- and much more. All these privately-owned items could have been confiscated and destroyed by the feds.

GOA generated a groundswell of nationwide opposition against the confiscation attempt. But we especially targeted our focus on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The message evidently got through, as the Committee Chairman's office called GOA to discuss this problem after he received hoards of calls, postcards and e-mails from our members. The provision was removed, and Second Amendment rights were preserved.

But had this IRS regulation been in effect in 2000, the agency (which then was under Clinton's control) could have RETROACTIVELY punished GOA, stating that our activity would have been impermissible if just one of the targeted Senators had been facing reelection!"

I mean it. Get out of here, and go do something about this. NOW.

posted by Linda on January 15, 2004 04:36 PM