With evolving federal and state laws concerning marijuana use tied to firearms, it is high time that the U.S. Supreme Court provided clarity. That will come soon.
The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners filed an amicus brief with the high court in United States v. Hemani. The case involves federal law banning marijuana users from possessing weapons—even when they are sober.
Restricting firearm possession by sober individuals goes against American history and tradition
SAF Director of Legal Research and Education Kostas Moros noted that there is nothing in the nation’s historical tradition that justifies disarming sober, law-abiding individuals.
“History shows that Founding Era laws addressed the dangers of intoxication and firearms through temporary restrictions on those actively impaired, never by stripping gun rights from sober individuals who occasionally use socially accepted substances like alcohol—or, by analogy, marijuana today,” Moros declared. “We urge the Court to affirm the Fifth Circuit and reject this unconstitutional overreach.”
Even gun rights opponents admit the fallacy of the government’s position
After decades of prohibition, marijuana is now legal in some form in 40 U.S. states. It is also widely accepted in society, a combination that demands national reform.
On this point, the gun rights lobby and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wholeheartedly agree. The civil rights group, which is generally unfriendly to the pro-Second Amendment lobby, called the federal restriction “impossibly vague” and said the government cannot even define a “habitual user.”
While no reasonable person supports intoxicated individuals handling weapons, that restriction should be meaningless when a person is not under the influence of mind-altering substances.
That includes alcohol and any number of powerful prescription medications.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments this week from attorneys on both sides. Interestingly, the most “pro-2A” administration in recent memory will claim that the defendant was indeed a “habitual user” of marijuana and that he should not have the right to keep and bear arms.
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