ON FWOb: Helmke first response to gun group complaint

Former Mayor Paul Helmke has responded to the news release issued earlier this evening by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

And he did it on the Fort Wayne Observed weblog.

This is the comment Mr. Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, posted to Fort Wayne Observed:

As mentioned in the CCRBKA news release, they are responding to complaints filed against the NRA  [National Rifle Association] and the GOA [Gun Owners of America].

I was not involved with the Brady Campaign activities in 2000 and 2002 mentioned in the release.

Before setting up our web page with regard to election endorsement information, we checked with the FEC [Federal Election Commission] on how to set things up. We later learned that the NRA and the GOA were not following the restrictions we were told were applicable. Accordingly, we asked the FEC to investigate.

The issue, as I understand it from our legal advisors, is not releases sent out on the wire or to the media but who can access those releases on the organization's web page and how they access that information. By the way, while the Brady Center is a 501(c)(3) organization, the Brady Campaign is not.

Any clarification of the FEC rules by the FEC for all involved would certainly be welcomed.