An Amish farmer's 600 guns were seized. It's unclear if he broke the law

[Judi Lynn]

Jason Nark - The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS) 9 hrs ago

PHILADELPHIA — Hand-painted signs in Amish country often advertise fresh eggs, shoofly pies or handmade quilts, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is trying to determine whether one Lancaster County farmer’s sizable gun collection was also his side hustle.

An ATF spokesman said agents seized evidence during an “enforcement operation” on Jan. 12 at the Cattail Foundry in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, but declined to comment further. Two sources familiar with the investigation said approximately 600 firearms were seized during the operation.

On Wednesday morning, farm owner Reuben King declined to comment on the matter at his home, but he did talk to Lancaster Online several weeks ago. King told the news outlet he was a dairy farmer, first and foremost, but admitted selling “some” firearms from his personal collection to fellow Amish and a few non-Amish too.

. . .

Prince, who is not affiliated with King’s case, sued the federal government in 2015 on behalf of an Amish man from Northumberland County, who felt he should have a religious exemption from the photo identification needed for a firearms purchase. Prince said he could not discuss the outcome of the case, but said any Amish person can produce all the documentation needed to get a photo identification in the first place.

More:
https://denvergazette.com/ap/business/an-amish-farmer-s-600-guns-were-seized-it-s-unclear-if-he-broke-the/article_7aa50e82-27e1-5259-bb85-ef37155ccfca.html

[Throck]

1. Was he planning an insurrection?

[twodogsbarking]

2. Amish. Not at all like the brochure. If you smell something

it probably isn't the cows.

[multigraincracker]

3. They are New Testament Christians and practice forgiveness,

just not all are good at it when it comes to women and animals. I'm talking in general terms, some not all.

[twodogsbarking]

4. You are being way too kind.

[Chainfire]

5. A couple of questions

It it was unclear that the man had broken any laws, why did they confiscate his property?
Why was it important, in the context of the story, that the man was Amish. Is that better or worse than being Baptist?

There are a lot of people who collect a lot of different things. I once saw a (new) condom collection in an "antique store."

The government issues a license for "firearm collectors" to collect certain types of guns. For one thing, it allows a collector to buy certain types of collectible guns through the mail without involvement of a licensed firearm dealer. The license does not limit the size of the collection, nor does it forbid selling of some of the collection.

Someone with a collection that size is unlikely to be gathering in weapons for a revolution. He has too damn much money to lose.
There are a lot of good people, including dyed-in-the-wool liberals, who collect historic firearms. It does not make them revolutionaries
or criminals. Don't get me wrong, I have no idea if the man was breaking any laws, and apparently the police didn't either. What is certain, is that he will have to spend money to get his property back...

My brother is a Yellow Dog Democrat, as liberal as they come, and he collects fine WWII historic weapons. He is neither a criminal nor nor planning to bring down the government. Historic firearms are a great investment. The value of the firearms has nearly quadrupled in the last 15 years. There is not much difference in investing in Raytheon and buying a Garand rifle, or is there?

The people that you need to worry about are the ones who have a dozen AR-15s and march in the streets shouting Sieg Heil.

[ancianita]

6. Well, he DID say he was a collector, & only sells a few.Collections are supposed to be legal, right?

[twodogsbarking]

7. SMH. Something off about this.

[wackadoo wabbit]

8. Just how many guns can one person shoot at the same time? /nt

[Bucky]

10. He had them all preloaded, that would've saved 10 minutes without using his ramrod

or uncorking his powder horn

[Bucky]

9. That's 600 blunderbusses that are now off the streets

Had law enforcement not acted when they did, the cobblestones could have been running red with humours