Marijuana users in the United States now have a constitutional right to own firearms, according to a new ruling. The case upheld by the supreme court in Oklahoma used the US Supreme Court Case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen to justify the ruling by the Oklahoma Judge. New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen set the new standard for firearm regulations early last year.
According to Fox News, a federal judge in Oklahoma ruled that a law barring marijuana users from owning firearms was unconstitutional. This ruling is the latest challenge to firearms regulations after the US Supreme Court’s new standards were set.
The Oklahoma judge dismissed an indictment against Jared Michael Harrison who was charged in August with violating a federal law that makes it illegal for “unlawful users or addicts of controlled substances” to possess firearms. Harrison’s lawyers deemed that the laws were inconsistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Federal prosecutors believed that the law was in fact consistent with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Due to marijuana being a fishy topic, teetering between controlled and recreational substances, the judge favored Harrison.
Judge Wyrick agreed with Harrison’s lawyers, ruling that federal prosecutors’ arguments against Harrison’s status as a marijuana user “justifies stripping him of his fundamental right to possess a firearm … is not a consititutionally permissible means of disarming Harrison.”
The results of this case means that marijuana users across the United States are now allowed to use and possess firearms. The whole scope of the case is yet to be determined since it happened so recently, but more marijuana-firearm related cases are expected to be heard soon.
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