The group known as Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence has closed up shop, citing a loss of funding. According to Director Rex Honey,
There was a grant with the Joyce foundation for a period of close to a decade from the mid 90s well into this decade, and that funding did end. That meant we could no longer hire staff, so everything was done on a volunteer basis.
The Joyce Foundation provided IPGV with $400,000 in grants in 2003, but as of 2007, their net income was only $13,927 (pdf). They also received funds from the Freedom States Alliance, a major Joyce beneficiary.
And how was all this grant money spent? In 2004, they reported $135,127 in revenue, $90,966 of which went to cover payroll. $4391 went to “printing and publications,” while the remainder was spent on accounting fees, taxes and office expenses. Though the registry was updated two months ago, the IPGV web site no longer exists.
Assuming that “printing and publications” means actual legwork, that means that just over 3% of their income went towards the actual mission. That’s a pretty sorry return on investment by any measure.
Remember, President Obama sat on the board for the Joyce Foundation, and like his other pet fundraising front (*), they have a habit of throwing money around like drunken sailors. To lose that funding means you have to be an even shoddier businessman than they are.
That, or there’s something else at work. We won’t have this year’s 990’s for many of these groups for a few months yet, but I’m willing to bet that funding is dropping for a great many of the regional gun control groups under the Joyce/Tides umbrella.
Gun control is a lost cause for the Left, and if they’re smart, they’ll spend their money elsewhere.
(*) Notice the connection to Drummond Pike of the Tides Foundation. ACORN is part of the whole web, and it spreads as wide as the highest office in American government.
07/07/09: I received an email from a reader who called my attention to Iowa Carry, an organization devoted to reforming Iowa’s rather screwy concealed-carry laws. Iowa is much like California, in which you might be able to get a permit if you can convince the local sheriff that you can “reasonably justify going armed.”
The actual Code section is 724.7, which reads,
Any person who can reasonably justify going armed may be issued a nonprofessional permit to carry weapons. Such permits shall be on a form prescribed and published by the commissioner of public safety, which shall be readily distinguishable from the professional permit, and shall identify the holder thereof, and state the reason for the issuance of the permit, and the limits of the authority granted by such permit. All permits so issued shall be for a definite period as established by the issuing officer, but in no event shall exceed a period of twelve months.
You can get a summary of their laws here (pdf).
I’m glad to see there’s an organization there fighting for reform. As their membership director pointed out, “we don’t seem to be willing to walk away from our mission just because we aren’t getting paid to pursue it.”