Amish man sues to buy firearm without photo ID

The Daily Mail – by Hannah Parry

An Amish man is suing the government for the right to buy a gun without a photo ID over claims his religious freedom is being violated.

Andrew Hertzler, from an Amish community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, filed the lawsuit after an gun dealer refused to sell him a weapon without the correct identification.  

He claims the federal law requiring photo ID clashes with his beliefs which prevent him from being photographed.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday in U.S. Middle District Court, says the requirement violates both his Second Amendment right to bear arms and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

Yet a federal firearms license to deal in guns is available without a photograph, the suit continued according to the Washington Post.

In the Amish community, photographs are sometimes seen as a violation of the Second Commandment: ‘Thou shalt not make unto thyself a graven image.’

The belief is at odds with federal firearm laws which require photo identification ‘without exception,’

Hertzler was refused a gun back in June of this year when he took up the complaint with his senator, Pat Toomey who forwarded it to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

When the bureau refused to bend, he filed the suit.

‘Mr. Hertzler confronts Hobson’s choice: either forego his constitutional right to keep and bear arms in defense of himself and his home, or violate his religion,’ the lawsuit read. Yet: ‘The exercise of one Constitutional right cannot be contingent upon the violation or waiver of another.’

The Amish are strict Christians — memorably portrayed in the film Witness — who are famous for their simple living, plain clothes and reluctance to adopt 20th-century conveniences, like cars and electric light. Their life ethic is hard work, community and prayer.

Men often have guns to help hunt for small game to supplement the meat for the family dinner table.

Many in the community shy away from photographs as they deem pictures too prideful; their capture of individuality a threat to community harmony.

Herzler’s lawsuit argues that if he is forced to take a photograph to obtain a gun, his religious freedom will have been ‘substantially burdened’.

Congress sought to avoid people’s religious freedom being oppressed when they passed the RFRA in 1993.

The law has aided the Amish who have been fighting for exception from U.S. law on religious grounds for decades, including winning the right to abstain from compulsory education laws.

In this case, the lawsuit must prove that Hertzler’s right to religious freedom outweigh’s the government’s safety requirement for photo ID.

Freedom of religion has been a major sticking point for the government, no more so than in the case of gay marriage.

But last month, President Barack Obama appeared to overrule the REFRA act when he said that religious freedom was not reason enough to deny any American their constitutional rights.

Speaking at a Democratic Party fundraiser, Obama said it’s important to recognize that some parts of the country remain uncomfortable with same-sex marriage and that it will take time for them to catch up to the majority of Americans who support such unions.

But while Americans hold dear the constitutional right to practice their religion free from government interference, he said that right can’t be used to deny constitutional rights to others.

‘We affirm that we cherish our religious freedom and are profoundly respectful of religious traditions,’ Obama said during remarks that were interrupted by repeated applause and cheers.

‘But we also have to say clearly that our religious freedom doesn’t grant us the freedom to deny our fellow Americans their constitutional rights.’

‘And that even as we are respectful and accommodating genuine concerns and interests of religious institutions, we need to reject politicians who are supporting new forms of discrimination as a way to scare up votes.

‘That’s not how we move America forward,’ he added. That was an apparent reference to some of the Republican presidential candidates.

In September, Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis spent several days in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples despite a Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex unions legal nationwide. Davis said such marriages violate her Apostolic Christian faith.

Since being released, the Rowan County clerk has allowed marriage licenses to be issued, but only without her name and title. She also announced that she has left the Democratic Party and become a Republican.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3292601/Amish-man-sues-government-buy-firearm-without-photo-ID-claims-requirement-oppresses-religious-freedom.html#ixzz3pylx3Qfo
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