Posted on 01/26/2022 12:16:16 PM PST by Sopater
So far no arrests have been made and authorities are keeping mum about a raid on a property in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country around Lancaster, but the local paper has some intriguing suggestions about what’s going on, and it sure looks like the BATFE is getting ready to accuse an Amish farmer of being an unlicensed gun retailer.
The raid on the property known as the Cattail Foundry took place two weeks ago, with agents carting off an untold number of guns. This week, LancasterOnline.com spoke with Rueben King, who says the guns were all his private property, though he admits that he had also sold several guns.
“This is my business: I’m a dairyman,” he said inside a barn filled with cows as he swept the concrete floor with a pushbroom. He has about 50 dairy cows.
Rueben King said he primarily sold long guns to the Amish for hunting, though he admitted he sold some to non-Amish, too.
“I was not dealing in handguns, positively not,” Rueben King said.
Federal laws require photo identification when purchasing a firearm from a licensed dealer. The Amish contend their religious beliefs prevent them from being photographed, so they cannot buy a firearm from a licensed dealer. However, private sellers don’t have to require the buyer to present photo identification.
Reuben King declined to say how many guns he had or sold, but that more than 600 — which is what a tipster told LNP — didn’t sound right. Agents did not take all his firearms, he said, adding he’s been collecting guns over the years and hunts.
Reuben King’s brother, Emmanuel King, said about 15 agents with a warrant removed firearms from a room above the first-floor foundry and spent about five hours there.
“They were jotting them down and loading them up,” Emmanuel King said.
Reuben King said he has been talking to lawyers, but does not have one yet, and doesn’t know what will come of the investigation.
We don’t have enough information to weigh in on the specifics of this case, but I’d definitely encourage King to speak with an attorney, and one who knows the ins-and-outs of both state and federal firearms laws. The Biden administration has warned that it’s going after “rogue gun dealers,” and while I don’t think busting an Amish farmer would be the public relations coup that Biden’s looking for, the ATF and DOJ could very well decide to make an example out of King if they have evidence he was selling a large number of firearms without obtaining an FFL.
As King correctly told LancasterOnline, there’s no hard or fast rule that specifically designates when an individual must become an FFL, only the cautionary language stating that “persons who are engaged in the business of dealing in firearms be licensed by the bureau.” Was King engaged in a gun business, as opposed to just making a few incidental sales from his collection? To answer that question we need a better idea of how many guns he’s believed to have sold. If it was anywhere close to 600, it’s going to be awfully hard to argue that this was just a hobby or a way for King to occasionally offload some of his collection.
At the same time, I’m sympathetic to the fact that the Amish can’t purchase a firearm from their local gun store because they generally don’t have a photo ID, which in essence requires them to purchase from a private seller.
It wouldn’t shock me if there are some Amish gun owners out there who are in that grey zone of making more than a few incidental sales while not engaging in the same volume that you’d typically see from someone making a living as a gun dealer, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see the Biden administration claim they’re “doing something” to address violent crime by cracking down on them.. even if most of those sales are to other friends and family living in an Amish paradise.
They have been in the gun business over 200 years.
Lancaster made rifles were even given, by the US Government, to the Cheyenne at the Washita, for them to hunt buffalo. Only they did not hunt buffalo. They went on killing raids of settlers, in Kansas resulting in Custer’s authorized raid on their village in 1868.
I wish the journalistic integrity checkers at CNN well.
If they did their job CNN would have nothing left to publish.
553? Hit too many keys. It should be 53 years when Johnson signed the 1968 Gun Control act into Law.
I am all for the right to private sales without paperwork; however, if he was selling a lot of guns to various people for profit, he should have got an FFL to deal.
One thing missing from the story is whether any ATF person had ever suggested that he get licensed. A rule of thumb over the years was 50 sales. But if this raid came out of the blue he’s lucky they didn’t “Kenyon Ballew” him. About 1971, in their first door buster, the ATF shot Ballew in the head on the say-so of a 14 year old kid who claimed Ballew had a weapons stash. All he had was an 1847 repro cap and ball pistol!
Polluting the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River will not help anyone. Take them to the East River in New York. It wont be noticed
How do you do that without a photo ID?
And how do you sell to customers that do not have a photo ID for religious reasons?
This makes me hate the jack-booted ATF even more: attacking a bunch of peaceful Christian farmers. We have GOT to get rid of that Federal agency.
NO. That is NOT what 18 U.S. Code §922 says. The ATF is a bunch of jack-booted Federal thugs, out of control, no different than any gang. What part of “shall not be infringed” are you unclear about?
It is clear to me that this is a clear case of his 2nd Amendment being violated by the law requiring him to show an ID, or to have a FFL to sell said firearms.
Thank God for the ATF.
That would be an excellent start.
Clop, Clop, Clop...
Bang, Bang, Bang...
Clop, Clop, Clop...
Amish drive-by shooting.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
HAR!
I can see it
They don’t pay into social security, I’m not sure about medicare tax but I think they don’t pay that as well. They do pay state, federal and their property taxes and collect sales taxes on any stuff they sell to the public. They are hardly tax cheats. What they barter between themselves is another issue but I don’t want any tax guys getting nosy trying to find out! There are lots of “in kind services” they might trade between themselves that could be considered taxable if properly valued, but if no talky and no paper worky...then no records to audit.
Part of the right wing threat.
That's utterly impossible.
Apparently, “a lot of guns” isn’t defined.
The LBJ “judge” on that one was a total government stooge.
They should just start lending them to ppl, like the library does. Return them after a year and get another one. Easy peasy.
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