In a confusing, contradictory move, the Biden administration is seeking to deny gun rights to users of marijuana, arguing that marijuana users are inherently dangerous and unstable even though Biden has also stated he intends to pardon those convicted of marijuana possession because the drug poses no threat.
An Oklahoma federal judge last month struck down a federal law prohibiting marijuana users from possessing a firearm, ruling it was not โconsistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulationโ and that marijuana use is not grounds for loss of a constitutional right.
In that case, Oklahoma resident Jared Michael Harrison was arrested and charged with illegal gun possession after a traffic stop found a loaded handgun and marijuana in his car.ย Harrison did not have a state-issued medical marijuana card and was charged with illegally possessing the firearm.
Harrison appealed, and U.S. District Judge Patrick Wyrick ruled that the federal law prohibiting firearm possession by a marijuana user โis not a constitutionally permissible means of disarming Harrisonโ and mere marijuana use or possession does not โjustif(y) stripping him of his fundamental right to possess a firearm.โ
โBut the mere use of marijuana carries none of the characteristics that the nation's history and tradition of firearms regulation supports,โ said Wyrick, citing the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bruen v. New York that any restriction on gun rights must be consistent with tradition.
โA legislature could circumvent the Second Amendment by deeming every crime, no matter how minor, a felony, so as to deprive as many of its citizens of their right to possess a firearm as possible,โ Wyrick wrote in his ruling.
โImagine a world where the State of New York, to end-run the adverse judgment it received in Bruen, could make mowing one's lawn a felony so that it could then strip all its newly deemed โfelons' of their right to possess a firearm,โ Wyrick noted,
The Biden administration is appealing that ruling and seeking to reinstate gun bans for marijuana users.ย The appeal claims marijuana users are dangerous threats to public safety, at the same time Biden proposes pardoning those convicted of marijuana possession, on the grounds they've committed no crime.
โAccording to the Biden administration, the original understanding of the right to arms included exceptions broad enough to encompass people who consume any intoxicant that legislators might one day decide to prohibit,โ Reason magazine reports. โIt says the law criminalizing gun possession by cannabis consumers is analogous to laws targeting โintoxicated' people who carry guns in public places.โ
But that claim was blasted by Wyrick, who made note of the racist origins of gun control and drug prohibition.
โIn trying to do so, Wyrick noted, the Justice Department had cited โignominious historical restrictions' that disarmed slaves, Catholics, loyalists, and Native Americans. He rejected the government's argument that such precedents showed it was constitutional to withhold Second Amendment rights from any group that legislators deem โuntrustworthy,'โ Reason reports.
The case now goes to an appeals court.ย While appeals courts have generally upheld legislative restrictions on gun rights, the Bruen ruling may give the court grounds to uphold the decision.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions ofย American Liberty News.
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5 Comments
BIDEN is a UNAMERICAN MAGGOT POS rot man
Hey, wake freakin up!!! Talk about woke!! I don’t even know what that term means. They just made it up to define what ever sick idea they wish to promote. And when I say “they” I don’t even know to whom I’m addressing. They are hidding.They will not identify themselves because they are ashamed. This term “woke” was invented a couple of years ago. Only to define “perversion” in what ever form those that promote it wish too. It is poisen. The entire idea is poisen. Don’t we all get it. There is danger afoot. Pay heed to the warning. The lord God will put things back in order. That will mean that those that challenge his order will be in peril. Please, all stay faithful and resisist this evil.
Is that what his son Hunter said?
I am a big 2nd amendment supporter. But, we do not need drug users carrying firearms.
even Dr.perscription drugs?