Maybe the good folks at the National Gun Victims Action Council should focus a bit more on their bookkeeping and a bit less on their correspondence.

Yesterday, they sent an open letter to Outdoor Life, Ammoland, Guns.com and of course me, accusing us of all types of pro-gun craziness because we don’t agree with their premise that accurate rifles should be banned.

I had never heard of the NGVAC until only recently, so as any investigative reporter would, I checked them out.

The group claims to be a tax exempt organization, a 501(c)(3).

Their donations page states: “All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.”

The Internal Revenue Service, however, revoked their tax exempt status on May 15 of this year.

Anyone who donated a substantial sum of money should notify their accountant.

Entering NGVAC’s Employer Identification Number (EIN) into an IRS tax exempt search page produced the following response: “The federal tax exemption of this organization was automatically revoked for its failure to file a Form 990-series return or notice for three consecutive years.”

Guidestar.org, the best site for researching a nonprofit, has a similar warning about doing business with the Chicago-based group: “This organization’s exempt status was automatically revoked by the IRS for failure to file a Form 990, 990-EZ, 990-N, or 990-PF for 3 consecutive years. Further investigation and due diligence are warranted.”

In an email to Martha Rosenberg, the NGVAC’s editor, I requested a copy of the group’s IRS Form 990, the filing requirement for tax exempt organizations.

Rosenberg did not provide the document. She wanted to know why I wanted the form.

Here’s my reply:

Martha, Check with your accountant or your attorney. Federal law requires you to furnish a copy of your organization’s IRS Form 990 when asked. It does not require the requestor to specify a reason. Please email me a copy of the document by close of business today. Regards, Lee

I have yet to receive the group’s tax documents. A follow-up email was similarly ignored.

Neither would Rosenberg say if the group plans to notify their donors of their revoked tax exempt status.

Here’s what the IRS had on file about the group: