US ban on marijuana users owning guns is unconstitutional, finds judge
Judicial appointee of former Republican president Donald Trump dismisses indictment against man charged with violating banA federal US law prohibiting marijuana users from possessing firearms is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Oklahoma has concluded, citing last year’s US Supreme Court ruling that significantly expanded gun rights.
US District Judge Patrick Wyrick, an appointee of former Republican president Donald Trump in Oklahoma City, on Friday dismissed an indictment against a man charged in August with violating that ban, saying it infringed his right to bear arms under the US Constitution’s Second Amendment.
Judge Wyrick said that while the government can protect the public from dangerous people possessing guns, it could not argue that Jared Harrison’s “mere status as a user of marijuana justifies stripping him of his fundamental right to possess a firearm”.
He said using marijuana was “not in and of itself a violent, forceful, or threatening act”, and noted that Oklahoma is one of a number of states where the drug, still illegal under federal law, can be legally bought for medical uses.
The US Department of Justice did not respond to request for comment but is likely to appeal.
The decision marked the latest instance of a court declaring a gun regulation unconstitutional after the US Supreme Court’s six-three conservative majority in June ruled that the Second Amendment protects a person’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defence.
That ruling, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association vs Bruen, announced a new test for assessing firearms laws, saying restrictions must be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation”.
On Thursday, the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals cited that decision in declaring unconstitutional a federal law barring people under domestic violence restraining orders from owning firearms. – Reuters
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