The Biden administration’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms scored a courageous victory when they raided an Amish dairy farm and confiscated a cache of long-barrel hunting rifles traditionally traded among those in the Amish community.
Reuben King, an Amish dairy farmer in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has been designated a “rogue gun dealer” by the ATF in the Biden DoJ’s newly super-charged crackdown on criminal gun dealers. The only problem with this is that King is a hobbyist gun collector and occasional salesman, not a professional firearms dealer.
Two weeks ago, ATF agents stormed King’s Leacock Township property, seizing an untold number of firearms as part of what they termed an “ongoing investigation” into the farmer’s alleged gun retail business.
To date, no arrests have been made and no charges have been filed. The ATF refuses to comment further on their daring raid. Even so, speculation is growing that the dedicated crimefighters at the DoJ are closing in on an indictment against King for selling guns without a federal firearms license.
King admitted that he has indeed been selling guns without a license, but said they were all part of his personal collection and had nothing to do with the foundry. Further, no handguns were ever sold.
“I’m not going to deny that I was selling some,” Reuben King said while inside a barn filled with about 50 dairy cows. “[But] this is my business: I’m a dairyman.”
King disputed the number of guns the ATF claims he sold adding he didn’t advertise the sale of his guns online and was not aware of how the ATF became aware of the activity.
King primarily sells long guns to the Amish for hunting but acknowledged he sold some to non-Amish, as well.
Why This Is Important
Considering the illegal weapons issues in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Detroit, San Francisco, and every other major and midsized urban area in the United States, the idea that ATF investigative manhours and operational manpower would be allocated to a raid on an Amish dairy farm is not only a gross misuse of time and money, but it is also imbecilic.
This operation was not only a poor priority use of taxpayer assets, it was a media disaster for the Biden administration. Then again, it is an accurate portal of a presidential administration mired in ineptitude and arrogance.
With drug cartels and street gangs moving uncountable numbers of illegal firearms at will across the United States – weaponry that significantly outguns our law enforcement agencies, how could it have been decided that prioritizing a raid on an Amish dairy farm citing “rogue gun dealership” was a wise decision?
I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that there aren’t a lot of Amish gangbangers. In fact, I am going to go further and ask just how many gun crimes are committed by the Amish each year? To that point, what is the Amish population in our prison systems?
But there is deeper irresponsibility at play here and one that spotlights the federal government’s complete ignorance of an American culture.
Per the website DiscoverLancaster.com, a native website to the exact location of King’s dairy farm and his particular Amish community:
“The Amish hold humility as a highly-cherished value and view pride as a threat to community harmony. Because items such as personal photographs can accentuate individuality and call attention to one’s self, they are prohibited from the home. Moreover, the Amish believe that photographs in which they can be recognized violate the Biblical commandment, ‘Thou shalt not make unto thyself a graven image.’ They want to be remembered by the lives they lived and the examples they left, not by physical appearance.
“Just as the Amish do not carry personal photographs or display them in homes, they do not want others to take photographs of them. Many visitors to Lancaster County, find it difficult not to do so. Yet, if there is one thing that appears to frustrate the Amish, it is tourists attempting to take their picture…”
So, this presents a conundrum regarding federal firearm regulations that came well after the establishment of the Amish religion.
Under the First Amendment to the US Constitution, the Amish are guaranteed the ability to freely practice their religion without government interference. This means because they believe photographs of themselves to be prohibited, forcing an Amish gun collector to be photographed and fingerprinted for a federal firearms license would violate the tenets of their religion.
Conversely, to prohibit a member of the Amish community from owning a firearm, or from personally selling a collected firearm to another member of the Amish community – or even a non-member, would violate his or her Second Amendment right to bear arms.
So, it appears that the arrogance of the Biden administration’s DoJ and the trigger-happy raid of the ATF have opened up a can of worms for Mr. Biden. Do they violate the Amish’ right to the First Amendment or the Second Amendment?
If the Biden administration and the ATF would have employed common sense and an honest application of federal authority in going after the truly murderous in our urban areas and at the Southern border, we would all be applauding their efforts and their bravery.
But it doesn’t take a brave man or woman to raid an Amish dairy farm. In fact, just like the federal raid to take possession and deport Elián González, the ATF’s raid on Mr. King’s dairy farm exposes them as arrogant, uneducated bullies.
From Ruby Ridge to Waco, Elián González to “Fast & Furious” and now King’s dairy farm, what is it with Democrat Presidential administration’s obvious hate for American people who value freedom; who simply want to be left alone?
You have to wonder if those who took part in the “daring” Amish dairy farm raid will be proud enough of their “courage” and “bravery” to reminisce about it in their old age?
Sadly, incredulously, that is a distinct possibility…
No Comments
Leave a comment Cancel