The New York SAFE Act is a disaster, and evidence that it is such is constantly mounting. Most recently, it was reported that the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act is killing gun rights for the Amish.
See, in addition to its arbitrary ban on magazine capacity and its expanded ban on widely popular and commonly owned black rifles, the SAFE Act requires a NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check) background check on all firearm transfers, including those between private buyers and sellers.
To run a NICS check at a gun shop dealer or FFL, one must present a photo ID. For the Amish people taking photographs is against their religious beliefs, therefore many don’t have photo IDs. As a result, if an Amish person wants to transfer a firearm to a fellow believer, he or she can not do it without breaking the law.
“They [Gun dealers] couldn’t do anything for us without a photo ID,” said Freeman Gingerich, an Amish man from West Edmeston, NY, in an interview with the FreeBeacon.
Gingerich reached out to Shooters Committee on Political Education (SCOPE) of New York, a gun rights organization, to see what they can do to help his community out.
“There are 60 families in our community that are in the same situation,” said Gingerich.
The chairman of SCOPE, Harold “Budd” Schroeder said they will be talking to their legal counsel to determine the best course of action.
“We are going to wait to get advice from our attorney to see how to proceed,” said Schroeder.
“The Amish are being discriminated against because of a religious belief,” Schroeder continued. “Because of their religious belief, they are being denied their Second Amendment rights.”
“The government is reversing the trend of the old saying of God and Country and is putting government ahead of God—and this is wrong,” Schroeder said.
Of course, proponents of the SAFE Act, including Gov. Cuomo who was the chief supporter of it in the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, argue that it protects the Second Amendment rights of citizens.
“The SAFE Act stops criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from buying a gun by requiring universal background checks on gun purchases … For hunters, sportsmen, and law abiding gun owners, this new law preserves and protects your right to buy, sell, keep or use your guns,” Cuomo states on the SAFE Act’s website.
We’ll keep you updated on this issue. Something tells me it won’t take long before a lawsuit is filed.
Yeah lets change the law so the Amish can get a gun without jumping through the same hoops the rest of are forced to do. The amish are people that live in the same country as us but they refuse to live by the same rules as the rest of us. They sight their religous beliefs that would not even exist in other countries. They enjoy the freedom this country affords them including the protection of our military that they won’t serve in claiming their religious beliefs. Why would they want a gun anyway, I guess a gun isn’t against their religious beliefs. Enough of this nonsense. No more special rights for anyone.
NY is proof positive that voters get the government they deserve. NY is a progressive enclave for big government, big union, central planning socialist using Marxist tactics to achieve their true goal of a cradle to grave caretaker society, otherwise known as Communism.
Even China is going the other direction, NY progressives are about only about a century behind in their thinking.
This is an ATF Federal law change requiring picture ID, with no exceptions.
Amish need to sue in Federal Court for the exception. Showing they had previous exception of the Law.
Yeah…Cause those Amish are real troublemakers…
Ha good 1 there Rick that’s as about true as you could possibly say it right there….
Ha good 1 there Rick that’s as about true as you could possibly say it right there….
The only true safe act would be banning tyrannical politicians from holding any government office and locking these traitors up.
Why does anyone even recognize the New York S.A.F.E. gun law? It is an outright infringement of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United Sates.
Consider this, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new S.A.F.E. act requires anyone who owns a AR15 type rifle to register it just like a handgun. This law went into effect two years ago. A newspaper reporter filed a freedom of information, (F.O.I.), request to discover just how many New Yorkers registered their AR15 rifles. The reporter had to file the F.O.I. request because the New York bureaucrats were stone-walling the release of that information. Guess what? Governor Cuomo still refuses to release the count of the registered AR15 riles. The estimated number of such rifles in New York is at least 500,000.
You might ask why our governor is keeping the number of registered rifles a secret. Oh clever you, you already know why he is withholding this information. The count of registered AR15 rifles is obviously so low, that he is embarrassed to disclose that number. Yup there are close to 500,000 new felons in New York State and he doesn’t know what to do about this act of civil disobedience.
One of the hallmarks of the disease known as liberalism is that all liberal legislators think that they can pass laws that infringe on the 10 amendments of the Bill of Rights. They don’t honor their oath to support the Constitution so it’s no surprise that they behave as they do when they pass unconstitutional laws. Cuomo is so obtuse that he actually said that if the crime rate didn’t drop he would consider confiscating all registered firearms. Liberals are not just mentally deranged, they are intellectually challenged too.
If the Supreme Court decides against Federal subsidies for the people in the states that did not create their own Obama Care insurance exchanges, there will be a lot more people who will have to be punished for not being able to afford to buy Obama Care coverage. Now let’s see, what do they call governments that are dictatorial? Oh yeah, tyrannies.
Joseph y do you think that?I work for amish and I seen proof that amish pay taxes?and his boy just bought a 30 acre place and he’s paying taxes on that himself as well.
No one died at Sandy Hook.
I really don’t care if the Amish can buy guns. They are parasites on our society.I grew up around a large Amish community.
They don’t pay for the roads they use because they do not purchase tires, cars, and fuel.
When I got drafted to go to Vietnam none of their sons had to worry. Their religion makes them all Conscientious Objectors.
They pay very little taxes, if any. Their land, in a lot of cases, belongs to their Church, and they barter among themselves for most goods and services they need.
They don’t vote.
When they speak of the rest of us they use hushed tones and refer to us as “English”.
So I’m not sure that the 2nd really should apply to them.
They won’t fight for America, pay taxes, or vote. So why should we worry about them?
Well I’m sorry to tell you Joseph f,I work with the amish and I seen proof that the amish pay taxes.so I hope you could rephrase that again….
And you say there land belongs to the churches?where do you come up with something like that?maybe you should do some research on that before you speak…my boss owns 45 acres himself and his boy just bought a farm and 30 acres himself and beleive it or not
….he pays taxes on it to.
Well Joseph I seen proof that the amish pay taxes and another thing my bosses son just bought a place with 30 acres of land and he pays his taxes on his own too…so maybe do a little research before you say that.
That made me curious, so I looked it up- Do the Amish serve in the military?
It seems in my whole 2 minutes of intense research that they are into the turn-the-other-cheek peace keeping… So generally not, but in times of a draft, they are able to serve their country in other forms (Kitchens, hospitals, behind the lines stuff.)
Yeah, they’re different…But that’s kind of what our country’s religious freedom is all about.
NY SAFE Act Kills Gun Ownership for Amish…. Well I’d say this so call “Safe Act” , will get rid of ALL” gun ownership in that State ! If they take them away from the Amish people , What makes anyone thing they won’t take them away from Every LAW Abiding person in New York ? …. we’ll see if a bunch of people leave New York Now” ! Pretty soon all that will be let in NY will be ALL democrats , about like Baltimore …. What’s left then ? >>>> Drugs and Thugs” ….. WITH Guns .
Hmmmm…I wonder how the Amish will maintain suffrage if the voter ID with a photo becomes a requirement in NY or other states where they reside?
I say, if the Amish can put a crack in the law as it presently stands, that’s good for all of us! It’s not the complete answer, but it is a start. I’m not Amish, but I’ll accept help from any corner in fighting these unjust and un-Constitutional laws.
Just cause the amish have more brains and not go out and start shooting other people cause there bored…we have our beliefs and we try to obey them as good as possible and can’t get pic id’s and like deer hunting as well why ya gotta take everything away
Let’s not put the full blame on The New York Safe Act. The Amish may need to change their law if they want a gun. In Western Pa. there area lot of Amish who don’t “believe” in electricity or other modern conveniences that have freezers and telephones on their property. They can change the rules if they want it badly enough.
I say put the full blame on the SAFE act. Just because some Amish may not follow all the rules of their religion doesn’t mean that the rest should be unduly burdened. Just because I’m a bad Catholic doesn’t mean that laws should be passed that restrict the practice of Catholicism for those more devout than me, whether they affect me or not.
Either way, the SAFE act is grossly unjust and unconstitutional irrespective of the Amish issue (I didn’t realize that any Amish owned guns, I knew that they’re anti-militaristic and consider buttons overly martial, so I assumed guns would certainly be off limits).
Amish beliefs revolve around not being “part of the world” – thus they consider electricity generated on their property as “safe” but not a utility line connecting them with the “world”. A telephone sitting in a small shed used by several families is fine, Just not a telephone line connecting their house to the outside world. People who try to point out their hypocrisies are merely demonstrating their own ignorance.
How convenient.
the’re screwed,there not arabs.
this is a non issue. The Amish will go to court, prove they have long-standing and deeply held religious beliefs that conflict with the gun laws, Hampton the Amish can do whatever they want. the beauty of the Hobby Lobby decision is it any religious person can\’t get around complying with any law in the United States if it conflicts with their deeply held religious beliefs. of course, certain Mormon sex will be able to engage in polygamy legal e again and other religious sects will be able to sacrifice chickens legally. it\’s a new day in America.
I believe you mean “Mormon sects”, not sex. You wrote “…engage in polygamy legal e…”, I believe you meant legally. Statement is poorly written and difficult to understand. The use of back slashes in the contractions can’t and it’s is rather disconcerting. Please proofread before posting.
this is a non issue. The Amish will go to court, prove they have long-standing and deeply held religious beliefs that conflict with the gun laws, Hampton the Amish can do whatever they want. the beauty of the Hobby Lobby decision is it any religious person can’t get around complying with any law in the United States if it conflicts with their deeply held religious beliefs. of course, certain Mormon sex will be able to engage in polygamy legal e again and other religious sects will be able to sacrifice chickens legally. it’s a new day in America.
this is a non issue. The Amish will go to court, prove they have long-standing and deeply held religious beliefs that conflict with the gun laws, Hampton the Amish can do whatever they want. the beauty of the Hobby Lobby decision is it any religious person can’t get around complying with any law in the United States if it conflicts with their deeply held religious beliefs. of course, certain Mormon sex will be able to engage in polygamy legal e again and other religious sects will be able to sacrifice chickens legally. it’s a new day in America.
I believe the issue has already been litigated in Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972). In Yoder, the issue was whether the Amish’s first amendment rights (freedom of religion) had to take precedence over Wisconsin’s insistence that Amish stay in school past 8th grade.
The holding, in essence said that state laws could not infringe on the Amish’s first amendment rights.
This law has, already, been held to be unconstitutional. There is no constitutional issue here. It should be thrown out the first time it gets in front of a judge.