On Monday, word came down that charges against Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy and the rest of his co-defendants had been dismissed by U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro — with prejudice.

In 2014 Bundy, you will remember, along with his two sons and a “militiaman” had been involved in an armed standoff with agents of the Bureau of Land Management over grazing fees on public land.

BLM maintained he owed more than $1.3 million in fees and tried to round his cattle up.

The problem is, he tried to pay it.

… documents obtained by the Las Vegas Sun show Bundy tried to pay his debt — at least once. He just sent the check to the wrong government agency.

A check for $1,961.47 was issued to Clark County in March 1994 with the intention of clearing the Bunkerville rancher of grazing fees owed from March 1993 through that date. The check was returned with instruction to send it to the BLM, which he stopped paying after federal officials restricted grazing on the 500,000-acre, open-range Bunkerville Allotment to protect the endangered Desert Tortoise species.

The date is consistent with what federal officials say is when Bundy began allowing his livestock to graze on the land illegally, and the amount he paid to the county was the same that he owed the BLM for that one-year time period.

Navarro declared a mistrial about a month ago, and in dismissing the charges absolutely hammered the prosecution.

Says the LA Times:

Navarro … shredded the government for a “reckless disregard for Constitutional obligations.” She said she was troubled by the prosecution’s tardiness in delivering information about the government’s placing of surveillance cameras and snipers outside the ranch.

That’s right, the Feds surrounded the man’s ranch, agents on site called the Bundys everything from “redneck” to “inbred” — showing a contemptible bias for people who are simply supposed to be enforcing the law — and placed snipers around the property

And then, they lied about it.

Kudos, by the way to Her Honor Judge Navarro, an Obama appointee, for her dedication to the Constitution.

Look, the Bundys were, in most respects, guilty as charged. They didn’t pay the fees, and they did spark off an armed confrontation. But it’s clear from whistleblower Larry Wooten’s memo, that the government ignored the law entirely in this case in an attempt to make an example of anyone who would dare challenge the almighty federal government.

People wonder why us “inbred, hillbilly, redneck gun nuts” would look at so-called “common sense gun control” askance?

See above.

There are individually good ATF agents — I’ve interviewed some of them — but while individuals can be trusted, government bureaucracies cannot, and if they could do this to Bundy, it could have done the same to gun owners.

That’s why we have a Second Amendment…because someone has to watch the watchmen.