Calguns Foundation Receives IRS 501(c)(3) Status

[hoffmang]

The Calguns Foundation received our official notification from the IRS that we have qualified for the tax exemption under 501 (c) (3) as a public charity. The notification was dated 8/14/2009 and is fully retroactive.

What this means for you: If you've ever donated to CGF, you can claim that donation as a tax exempt charitable donation or rest easily that your earlier exemption claim is correct. That treatment is retroactive to our founding in March of 2008. This also means that if you have a donation matching program at your employer, CGF is now fully qualified to receive those matching corporate donations. If you've held off to take advantage of your company's matching funds, now is the time to start that paperwork.

We will be pulling together a "Thank you" letter campaign for anyone who exceeded $200 per calendar year in donations (which is the level above which you need documentation to take the deduction.) If anyone else who has donated needs or wants a thank you letter for their records, please email hoffmang@calgunsfoundation.org and we'll take care of it.

This also brings up that there is no better time than now to donate to CGF. With cases like Sykes and underway and our ongoing successful defenses of falsely accused gun owners, your donations go directly to the front line fight for gun rights!

-Gene

[technique]

Its about time....

[Maltese Falcon]

Excellent!! Donation inbound!

[hoffmang]

Its about time....

We filed with Fed and State just after New Years Day. State responded in 60 days...

-Gene

[tango-52]

Very good! Point of clarification please. As a 501c3, can CGF be politically active without threatening the tax-deductability of donations? I can see how it would be fine if all CGF was doing was covering peoples legal costs, but where is the line on when legal cases become political activism? Or is that solely on campaign contributions?

[hoffmang]

Very good! Point of clarification please. As a 501c3, can CGF be politically active without threatening the tax-deductability of donations? I can see how it would be fine if all CGF was doing was covering peoples legal costs, but where is the line on when legal cases become political activism? Or is that solely on campaign contributions?

As currently structured, CGF can not advocate for or against candidates for public office. Supporting or opposing proposed legislation is a bit of a gray area and CGF has opted to stay clear of that issue at this time. Public interest litigation, however, is fair game as is weighing in on administrative rule makings and other things that impact our donors/supporters. This is why CGN != CGF. Also, to add some clarity, as soon as bad legislation passes, we can litigate against it - but not until it's the law.

CGF can elect to spend a certain amount of it's funds on lobbying and maintain its tax deduction, but those fields seem well handled by NRA/CRPA for now.

-Gene

[artherd]

Generally, The Calguns Foundation may not influence pending legislation and Political races. Lobbying in general is restricted and also cannot be our primary purpose.

We sure as heck can SUE to eliminate bad law - we are and will again!

That said, CGN is evolving into a very legitimate political tool for the grassroots community - and has no such restrictions on political races or pending legislation!

[tango-52]

Thanks for the clarification.

[Scarecrow Repair]

We will be pulling together a "Thank you" letter campaign for anyone who exceeded $200 per calendar year in donations (which is the level above which you need documentation to take the deduction.)

If this is the letter showing how much has been donated for tax purposes, please make sure you only send it once at the end of the year. Some of my donations aperiodically trigger monthly thank you letters, really annoying as a way of wasting my donations. Once I complain, they stop for a year or two, then probably a change of low level staff finds -- horrors -- all those months of unthanked donations.

[sorensen440]

great news !

[radioburning]

I wish I wasn't drowning in bills right now. It's been a while since I've been able to donate.

[trashman]

Congratulations guys --- this is great news and I'm sure a lot of 'elbow grease' was responsible to keep the application moving through the system.

I greatly appreciate the personal time and effort you guys on the Board continue to expend on the RKBA cause.

--Neill

[Davidwhitewolf]

Been waiting to hear this. Great news!

[gucci pilot]

Generally, The Calguns Foundation may not influence pending legislation and Political races. Lobbying in general is restricted and also cannot be our primary purpose.

We sure as heck can SUE to eliminate bad law - we are and will again!

That said, CGN is evolving into a very legitimate political tool for the grassroots community - and has no such restrictions on political races or pending legislation!

So, where does that leave us with regards to opposing legislation like AB 962? Is CALGUNS.NET separate from CGF? As a forum, are prohibited from political call to "arms"?

Can I donate ammo instead of $$$ and still get the deduction?

[ke6guj]

Yes, Calguns.net is separate from CalGuns Foundation. Gene said CGN != CGF . CGN is not a 501(c)(3), so it is not restricted like CGF is.