A Rhode Island man was arrested under an interesting set of circumstances this past week. The man in question was in possession of over 200 firearms and had a flamethrower on the property. Despite the concerns raised by the prosecution this man is back out on the streets already after a judge ruled he was not a threat to the community.
37-year-old Ronald Andruchuk was arrested and charged with a litany of things including possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Why is Andruchuk a prohibited person? The prosecution is alleging he used drugs.
Mr. Andruchuk was arrested after the police were given reports of the sounds of gunfire coming from the property. Mr. Andruchuk was released from police custody after the authorities failed to prove he was a threat to the community. This is where things get strange.
The prosecution was shocked at the “mind-boggling” amount of firearms involved in this case and it would almost seem as if this was the reason they wanted to deem him a threat to the community. Mr. Andruchuk does not have a criminal record and the only way the prosecution is going to be able to prove their charges is if he was on an illicit substance and was in possession of some illicit substance.
It is unclear if Mr. Andruchuk was actually on drugs or not and if so what those drugs were. Mainsteennews reported that he was alleged to be on drugs, but this could mean that the man had simply been drinking. There has been a big push in recent years to classify alcohol as a drug and that would have a real impact on everyday America’s ability to carry.
There simply isn’t enough information for Mr. Andruchuk to be condemned.
It is possible that his legal team is correct in their assertion that he is a firearm collector, nothing illegal or immoral about that. According to the reports from the courtroom, Mr. Andruchuk has been cooperating with law enforcement and has never been a problem for authorities before.
This could, possibly, be a case of a firearm owner being persecuted for owning “too many” guns. But we can not know for sure until we get more information.
What might make one lean into this angle is a comment from the judge. Judge John J. McConnell Jr said “there does not appear to be a law for regulation that prohibits such conduct,” in reference to the number of guns owned by Mr. Andruchuk. The only reason something like this would come up is if there is debate over the legitimacy of one owning this many firearms.
We can’t really say anything more until more information comes out, stay tuned for any major updates.
