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IPFS News Link • Gun Rights

Ban on guns for marijuana users declared unconstitutional

• https://www.rt.com

A federal judge has dismissed charges against a man accused of violating a US federal law prohibiting marijuana users from owning guns, ruling on Friday that the law itself violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

While the government had the right to restrict gun ownership by "dangerous" people, it could not claim that Jared Harrison's "mere status as a user of marijuana justifies stripping him of his fundamental right to possess a firearm," US District Judge Patrick Wyrick of Oklahoma argued in his ruling. Merely using the drug – which is legal for medical purposes in the state – is "not in and of itself a violent, forceful, or threatening act," the judge explained.

Wyrick condemned the federal ban on gun ownership by cannabis users as "unconstitutionally vague" and "in violation of the Due Process Clause" in addition to being an infringement of Harrison's Second Amendment rights, citing last year's Supreme Court ruling (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen) strengthening gun rights in his decision.


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