By: Kayleigh Hamilton
The ATF will never miss a chance to shut down a gun store.
They saw a golden opportunity and they are taking it.
Now one gun store owner is under attack by the ATF.
When Donald Trump was nearly assassinated by a gunman at one of his rallies, the first reaction of most people, including many who didn’t like him, was concern.
After all, any time political violence erupts and someone’s life is targeted for their beliefs, it is always a bad thing for America.
This awful event should be an opportunity to bring America back together after all of the division the country has experienced in recent years.
Sadly, the ATF is now using it as an excuse to go after a gun store that was unwittingly tied to the shooter, through no fault of their own.
Allegheny Arms & Gun Works is located in Bethel Park, the same town in Pennsylvania the shooter is from.
It goes without saying that they had no clue someone in their town was planning such a violent attack on the former president. They sold him a gun because he was legally cleared to buy one.
Little did they know what he was planning to do with it. Now the ATF is putting out information to try to paint them as the bad guys.
According to Newsweek, “The gun store where Thomas Matthew Crooks is said to have purchased ammunition before his assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump sold guns that later appeared at other crime scenes.
“According to letters sent by the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), before it was said to have supplied ammo to Crooks, Allegheny Arms & Gun Works, a gun store in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, sold 75 or more guns in the years 2021, 2022 and 2023 that were later recovered at crime scenes.”
The question isn’t whether their guns have been occasionally used by people for bad purposes. They cannot control that.
The question is whether they are following the law. So far, there is no evidence that has come out showing that they are not.
Here’s what the owner had to say: “As a responsible member of our community, it is our prerogative to cooperate with law enforcement in every way. We are thankful that President Trump was not assassinated, and our hearts go out to all victims of this horrible incident.”
This gun store didn’t do anything wrong. The person who committed the shooting had no criminal background and there was no specific reason, at the time, to think he shouldn’t have a gun.
Clearly, if this gun store knew what he was about to do, they would have refused to sell the gun to him. But they are not clairvoyants and can’t predict the future.
The ATF should leave them alone. And furthermore, the ATF should stop trying to harass people across the country who sell guns and treating them as criminals even though they are not.