Whoopsy, somebody "forgot" something (RMGO Loses Tax Exempt Status)
Colorado gun group fails to file with IRS, could be hit with tax bill
Posted: 06/25/2012 12:41:56 PM MDT
June 25, 2012 6:43 PM GMTUpdated: 06/25/2012 12:42:05 PM MDT
By Lynn Bartels
The Denver Postdenverpost.com
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, the state's most strident gun-rights group , lost its tax-exempt status last year after failing to file with the IRS for three straight years.
But the group, known for its hard-ball politics, as of Friday was still claiming to be a tax-exempt nonprofit on its web site, although the IRS revoked its status in May 2011.
In addition, the Colorado secretary of state this May suspended the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners' registration as a "charitable organization" for failure to file timely reports. Nonprofits that solicit funds must be registered with the secretary of state under Colorado law. Failure to do so is a misdemeanor, secretary of state spokeman Andrew Cole said.
Told by The Denver Post that the group was still asking for donations on the web site as late as Friday, Chris Cash, charities program manager for the secretary of state, said the office will investigate.
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, led by director Dudley Brown, has a reputation for its tough tactics, particularly in GOP primaries.
Brown — a delegate to the Republican National Convention — said Friday that his organization experienced computer problems and lost nearly three years of data, which it must recreate.
"I plead mea culpa to not putting that high on my radar screen and refiling these," he said. "My guess is it's going to be a year before I can get it all figured out."
Attorneys familiar with IRS regulations said the gun group could be liable for thousands of dollars in back taxes on the contributions it received, but Brown said he doubts that will happen because they are working to resolve the problem.
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners collected an average of $84,500 a year in contributions in the most recent years when it did file, IRS records show.
On its secretary of state filing, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners says its mission is to "defend the right to keep and bear arms from all of its enemies, and advance those God-given rights by educating the people of Colorado."
"We tend to play rough with those who won't answer a written survey on a constitutional issue," Brown recently said on a Facebook site.
Brown's tactics over the years have angered his targets, including state Rep. Jim Kerr, R-Littleton, who lost his attempt last year to be appointed to a vacant state Senate seat. He said Brown distorted his gun record.
Kerr said it's no surprise that the group would fail to file tax records for three straight years.
"Dudley Brown lives in his own universe and thinks he can play by his own rules," Kerr said. "He's reprehensible. The guy's a butt."
Brown said he's never said the rules don't apply to him, but he added with a laugh that the "rules that Jim Kerr make up don't apply to me."
Read more: Colorado gun group fails to file with IRS, could be hit with tax bill - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20934409/colorado-gun-group-fails-file-irs-could-be?IADID=Search-www.denverpost.com-www.denverpost.com#ixzz1yqN8aBwK
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