5th Circuit reaffirms that prosecuting a marijuana user for illegal gun possession was unconstitutional
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit this week reaffirmed its conclusion that the federal government violated the Second Amendment when it
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I used to work at a sporting goods store, primarily bicycles but I occasionally ran the gun counter.
It was interesting over the last decade I worked, to see how the paperwork wording changed.
The only ones that stand out in memory was asking about "illegal substance use"
First it was "are you addicted to any illegal drugs" and if you checked "yes" then you got denied the sale.
Then it changed to "addicted or USER OF any illegal drugs"
Then "user of any federally illegal substances" or something like that. I'm not sure what it is now since I haven't run a counter in years and haven't bought a gun in almost as long.
They clearly were trying to keep the wording so it didn't matter what the legal status was in your area, or whether the substance you use is addictive or not.
As far as I'm concerned, Marijuana use is just as valid around firearms as alcohol use. It's fine if you drink and it's fine if you shoot, just don't ever do them together.
There are a lot of people who are extremely insistent that Marijuana stays as illegal as possible, and that nobody who smokes is allowed to own a gun.
And a surprising few of them can actually articulate why for either of those.
Hey, if a person owns a gun and wants to drink alcohol, is there any way to be responsible besides using a time delay safe?
I have the idea of that if there’s any chance of any alcohol being in my system, it must be all but impossible for me to gain access 2A highly deadly weapon.
This would be the same as "is it responsible to own a vehicle and drink alcohol without an ignition breathalyzer?"
Basically it's already illegal to do both, dont do both, and if you think you can't control yourself get rid of one of them.
Extremes of both situations come to mind.
🔫 On the Second Amendment front, perhaps you've gone to bed tipsy and are awoken by the sound of your door crashing down. If you were sober, you might have confidence in your ability to vet that it's intruders and not e.g. your friendly police state who got the wrong address.
🥃 On the alcohol front, extremes might be peer pressure or a medical emergency in your household or at an elderly neighbor's home or something.
Comparing the two: I wonder if the average person can trust themselves more to remember they shouldn't drive their friend with a broken leg to the hospital and they need to wait for EMS, compared to knowing they shouldn't unlock their gun safe when their door comes crashing down.
Not offering any concrete proof or ironclad opinion here. Thanks for the thought-provoking response!
I think it's good enough to not be in your possession. It doesn't need to be near impossible to get access to. The goal is to stop sudden impulses, not to make it impossible. As the other person said, you can have a car and drink, but (especially for younger people) you should leave your car keys in a bowl at a party so you have to put more consideration into driving away.
