Federal Judge Strikes Down Law Prohibiting Marijuana Users From Owning Guns

Last week, an Oklahoma federal district judge ruled that a federal law prohibiting marijuana users from owning guns was unconstitutional. 

According to ReutersU.S. District Judge Patrick Wyrick vacated an indictment against Jared Harrison, who had been charged with violating the law in August. Wyrick ruled that the law itself is unconstitutional because it infringes on Americans’ Second Amendment rights: 

Wyrick stated that, while the government can protect citizens from dangerous gun-wielding people, it cannot argue Jared Harrison’s right to own guns. “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,” We also pointed out that Oklahoma is one among many states where the drug, which is still illegal under federal law but can be legally purchased for medical use, was legal.

“The mere use of marijuana carries none of the characteristics that the Nation’s history and tradition of firearms regulation supports,” Wyrick wrote.

Laura Deskin representing Harrison as a public defender, said that the ruling was “a” “step in the right direction for a large number of Americans who deserve the right to bear arms and protect their homes just like any other American.” She called marijuana “the most illegal drug” at the federal government.

Harrison was arrested after he was stopped for speeding in May 2022. ABC reported. While officer’s searched his vehicle, they found a loaded revolver and marijuana. According to Harrison, he claimed that he was driving to a dispensary for medical marijuana but didn’t have a state-issued card. 

Federal prosecutors claimed that the part of the gun laws that prohibits drug users from possessing firearms is compatible with “consistent with a longstanding historical tradition in America of disarming presumptively risky persons, namely, felons, the mentally ill, and the intoxicated.” The U.S. Department of Justice will likely appeal the decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that a New York gun statute required residents to carry concealed weapons. “proper cause” You can apply for a concealed carry permit. Justice Clarence Thomas stated in the majority opinion that the right of bear arm should not be subjected to any other rules than the Bill of Rights. Since the ruling, other court decisions have protected Americans’ right to own guns.