A federal appeals court has ruled that the ban preventing people who use marijuana from possessing firearms is unconstitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concluded that the historical context of the Second Amendment’s original 1791 ratification did not justify disarming individuals based on past drug usage.
The decision is the latest in a series of successful challenges to the long-standing federal prohibition, which is actively being contested in various court cases across the country.
This ruling potentially invalidates the firearms ban for any person who is an “unlawful user” of any illicit drug, not just marijuana.
A three-judge panel for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided on Wednesday to toss the conviction of Patrick Daniels, a Mississippi man arrested and sentenced to prison for possessing firearms as an unlawful user of marijuana. The panel found that Daniels’ conviction was inconsistent with the “history and tradition” of gun regulation.
“In short, our history and tradition may support some limits on an intoxicated person’s right to carry a weapon, but it does not justify disarming a sober citizen based exclusively on his past drug usage,” Judge Jerry E. Smith, a Ronald Reagan appointee, wrote for the unanimous panel in US v. Daniels.
“Nor do more generalized traditions of disarming dangerous persons support this restriction on nonviolent drug users. As applied to Daniels, then, § 922(g)(3) violates the Second Amendment.”
Kimberly Golden Gore, an attorney for Daniels, similarly said during an oral argument in June that her client was “serving 46 months in a federal facility for having less than half a gram of marijuana, and two firearms that otherwise would have been legal,” arguing that “historical tradition simply doesn’t support that kind of permanent and total restriction on his Second Amendment rights.”
RESTORE YOUR GUN RIGHTS
KOMORN LAW
Other Posts
- Michigan Traffic FAQs-Golf Carts-Mini Motorcycles-ATVs-Electric ScootersShares
- Michigan Traffic Laws FAQ – Speed and Speed LimitsShares
- DOJ Submits Proposal to Reschedule MarijuanaShares
- Michigan Traffic Laws FAQ – CellphonesShares
- SCOTUS: No separate hearing required when police seize cars loaned to drivers accused of drug crimesShares
- Michigan Traffic Laws FAQ – Equipment and LightingShares
- Michigan Traffic Laws FAQ – Tinted WindowsShares
- Detroit school district says marijuana-related incidents on the riseShares
- Pregnancy and Period Tracking, Gov. Whitmer Reminds Michiganders to Monitor Data PrivacyShares
- The Legal Impact of Marijuana ReclassificationShares
Tags
2020 2021 Academia Adult Recreational Use Adult Use breathalyzer California cannabis Caregivers coronavirus CRA Detroit Driving drugged driving Education Event Federal Hemp Lab Scandal LARA LARA-BMR Laws legalization Marijuana medical marijuana michigan Michigan Laws Michigan Legislature Michigan News MMFLA MMMA MRA MSP News pandemic 2020 Patients Recreational Release science smell taxes Traffic Laws USA USA News world news
LEGAL ADVISORY – Rules, Regulations and laws may have changed after this information was posted. It is up to the reader to research and determine the current status of those items. It is always best to consult an attorney that has experience and is focused on the cannabis industry. One of the most well known law firms in the industry since 1993 is Komorn Law