
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 4, 1994                   TAG: 9406070020
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

CHURCH TO STOP STOCKPILING WEAPONS

A survivalist church agreed Friday to stop stockpiling weapons on its ranch near Yellowstone National Park in exchange for the restoration of its tax-exempt status.

The Church Universal and Triumphant notified U.S. District Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer it was withdrawing its 1992 lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, which had revoked the group's tax exemption starting on May 1, 1987.

In return, the IRS restored the group's exemption except for the two years between May 1, 1988, and April 30, 1990.

The government, in revoking the church's status and seeking as much as $2.6 million in back taxes and penalties, had accused the church of amassing a large stockpile of military-style weapons, including semiautomatic rifles, armored personnel carriers and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

- Associated Press

by CNB