On Wednesday, the 9th Circuit Court ruled that the Federal Ban on guns for illegal drug users also applies to those who hold a medical marijuana card.
Because Pot is still an illegal drug federally
ABC News reported,
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It came in a lawsuit filed by S. Rowan Wilson, a Nevada woman who said she tried to buy a firearm for self-defense in 2011 after obtaining a medical marijuana card. The gun store refused, citing the federal rule banning the sale of firearms to illegal drug users.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
Wilson said she was not a marijuana user, but obtained the card in part as an expression of support for marijuana legalization.
She challenged guidance issued by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2011 that said gun sellers should assume people with medical marijuana cards use the drug and not sell them firearms.
The 9th Circuit in its 3-0 decision said it was reasonable for federal regulators to assume a medical marijuana card holder was more likely to use the drug.
The court also said Congress had reasonably concluded that marijuana and other drug use “raises the risk of irrational or unpredictable behavior with which gun use should not be associated.”
The decision was 3-0. Wilson’s attorneys plan to appeal the ruling.
Ramifications
Basically, the court and the feds have lumped all marijuana users into the violent danger category, even if it is medical.
That would mean, taking the ruling a step farther, that any veteran who uses medical marijuana for PTSD therapy is at risk of losing their guns or being unable to purchase one.
They also rejected the part of Wilson’s lawsuit that said her guns rights had been stripped without due process. They were, but the court didn’t care.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is one of the most liberal courts in the nation. Their ruling applies to 9 states – California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, and also includes the territories of Guam, and the Mariana Islands.
H/T Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children
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