On Friday, a federal court in Oklahoma determined that the state’s prohibition on gun ownership by people with a history of marijuana usage is unconstitutional. This verdict is the latest to challenge gun control measures after the conservative majority of the Supreme Court established new criteria for examining existing restrictions.
In Oklahoma City, U.S. District Judge Patrick Wyrick dropped an indictment against Jared Michael Harrison in November. Harrison had been accused in August of breaking a federal rule that forbids “unlawful users or abusers of controlled substances” to possess weapons.
A similar argument was made by Harrison’s legal team, echoing the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen last year, that the section of federal firearms law aimed at drug users or addicts was not consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
New precedents were established in that case regarding how the Second Amendment should be interpreted. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors defended the drug prohibition provision, saying it is “compatible with a longstanding historical tradition in America of disarming presumptively hazardous folks, namely, convicts, the mentally ill, and the drunk.”
In Warrenton, Virginia, on January 16th, 2020, Gerry Lee visits the Clark Brothers gun store and shooting range to hone his shooting skills. On January 16, 2020, in Warrenton, Virginia at the Clark Brothers gun store and shooting range, Gerry Lee gets some target practice.
Federal prosecutors’ claims that Harrison’s marijuana use “justifies stripping him of his fundamental right to possess a handgun… is not a constitutionally permissible manner of disarming Harrison,” a claim that was supported by Harrison’s attorneys, were rejected by Wyrick.
In his ruling, Patrick Wyrick stated, “but the simple use of marijuana has none of the qualities that the Nation’s history and tradition of weapons regulation support.” On Thursday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans declared that a federal law prohibiting those with domestic violence restraining orders have a constitutional right to carry firearms.
