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.