Sandy Hook Promise: Confusion by design

By Lee Williams

by Lee WilliamsOn December 14, 2012, a 20-year-old madman stalked the halls of the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 young children and six adults. Just 14 days later, the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise was founded by three Newtown residents, Mark Barden, Nicole Hockley and Tim Makris.Barden’s son Daniel was killed during the mass murder, as was Hockley’s son, Dylan. Makris’ child was at the school but was not physically injured. Barden and Hockley became the group’s first co-CEOs. Makris became executive director.The nonprofit quickly came to the attention of Connecticut’s Attorney General, who is responsible for safeguarding consumers from possible fraud or scams.On May 16, 2013, Assistant Attorney General Karen Gano sent a strong letter to Sandy Hook Promise, demanding information about the nonprofit’s mission and priorities, its organizational structure and leadership, whether the group was political in nature, and “Where do you stand with regards to laws regarding gun purchase and gun ownership?”In his response, the group’s operations director, James S. Belden, explained that the nonprofit consisted of two distinct entities: The Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) and the Sandy Hook Action Fund, a 501(c)(4).“While both the Foundation and the Action Fund have

Source: The Gun Writer