My husband passed this along to me. I thought I’d share it. I’m sure Mr. Levinson won’t mind (although I didn’t ask). Thought maybe others would like to maybe file some complaints too. And you never know, if there are other tax exempts selling products (not just asking for donations) knowing how to file a complaint could be VERY USEFUL.

On Thu, 20 Jul 2000 19:13:59 -0400, in talk.politics.guns “William A.
Levinson” <[email protected]> wrote:

I received a solicitation for Virginia SLAM’s “SLAM the NRA” concert on
July 30. SLAM claims that, in one year, firearms killed 5285 children in
the United States. This is an even bigger fish story than the “12
children a day” lie from Handgun Control Incorporated and the Million
Mom March.

Since SLAM, which is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization (just like
Million Mom March version 1, remember them?), is asking for donations
AND trying to sell concert tickets with this mailing, I am sending out
the following letter (with the SLAM advertisement enclosed). The
following is my complaint; it is not to be construed as a finding by any
of the indicated agencies.
————————————

From: William A. Levinson [contact information given]
To: ? Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, 600
Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20580
? Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 101 Penn
Avenue Scranton, PA 18503
? Philanthropic Advisory Service, Council of Better Business Bureaus,
Inc., 4200 Wilson Blvd., Suite 800 Arlington, VA 22203

30 January, 2000

Subject: Possible deceptive and misleading fundraising practices by
nonprofit org.
? Virginia SLAM!

Gentlemen,

I believe that the enclosed solicitation for 501(c)(3) tax deductible
contributions, and advertisement for concert tickets, contains a grossly
inaccurate and sensationalistic claim, specifically that firearms killed
5285 children in the United States in one year.

You can verify this claim’s inaccuracy yourself from the Center for
Disease Control’s web site at
http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate.html. Here is what I get for
firearm-related deaths (all intents, including suicide) for 1997 (most
recent year for which data are available), ages 0-17 (minors), and no
age adjusting. I get 2284 deaths, so Virginia SLAM overstates the
problem by more than 100 percent. (Not that 2284 firearm-related deaths
is good or acceptable; the bottom line is that Virginia SLAM is
exaggerating the problem for which they are soliciting money.)

———————————————————-
1997, United States
Firearm Deaths and Rates per 100,000
All Races ,
Both Sexes, Ages 0 to 17
E922, E955.0-.4, E965.0-.4, E985.0-.4, E970

Number of Crude
Deaths Population Rate
2,284 69,527,944 3.29

* Rates based on 20 or fewer deaths may be unstable. Use with caution.
Produced by: Office of Statistics and Programming, National Center for
Injury Prevention and Control, CDC
Data Source: NCHS Vital Statistics System for numbers of deaths.
Bureau of Census for population estimates.
———————————————

It is up to you to determine whether Virginia SLAM’s advertisement
violates of any of the following standards. (Emphasis is mine).
1. Federal Trade Commission page at

http://www.ftc.gov/opp/gpra/append1.htm

? Under Section 5, the Commission has determined that a representation,
omission, or practice is deceptive if: (1) it is likely to mislead
consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances; and (2) it is
material, that is, likely to affect consumers’ conduct or decisions with
respect to the product at issue.
2. Pennsylvania Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purpose Act at

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/ppd/charity/Brochures/charact.shtml

? Section 162.15. Prohibited acts
? (a) General rule.–Regardless of a person’s intent or the lack of
injury, the following acts and practices are prohibited in the
planning, conduct or execution of any solicitation or charitable sales
promotion: …
? (2) Utilizing any unfair or deceptive acts or practices or engaging in
any fraudulent conduct which creates a likelihood of confusion or of
misunderstanding.
3. Better Business Bureau’s standards for charities at
http://www.bbb.org/about/charstandard.asp:
? C1. Solicitations and informational materials, distributed by any
means, shall be accurate, truthful and not misleading, both in whole and
in part.

Very truly yours,

William A. Levinson