The Second Amendment Foundation and a District Attorney in Pennsylvania have filed a federal lawsuit against Attorney General Merrick Garland, the heads of the FBI and ATF, and the U.S. Government, challenging the federal prohibition on gun ownership by medical marijuana users.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. In addition to Garland, the lawsuit names FBI Director Christopher Wray and ATF Director Steven Dettelbach as defendants. SAF is joined by Warren County, Pa. District Attorney Robert Greene, who has served in that office since 2013 and currently possesses a medical marijuana ID card under Pennsylvania law. They are represented by attorneys Adam Kraut, who serves as SAF executive director, and Joshua Prince of Bechtelsville, Pa.
The lawsuit challenges restrictions contained in 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(3), (d)(3), which prohibit firearms purchases and possession by persons who use marijuana or other controlled substances.
“Medicinal marijuana has been adopted by 38 states despite federal inaction on the issue,” said Kraut, who is also a practicing attorney in Pennsylvania. “With the increasing acceptance of medical cannabis, millions of Americans are forced to choose between the exercise of their Second Amendment rights or treating their symptoms with a substance that disenfranchises them from their constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms. Such a choice is incompatible with the constitution and finds no basis in this country’s history and tradition. We look forward to vindicating the rights of medical marijuana users.”
“The use of medical marijuana should not translate to an automatic surrender of one’s Second Amendment rights,” added SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The current restrictions unquestionably and arbitrarily infringe on the right to keep and bear arms, and the restriction lacks any director or analogous historical support, as required by the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen ruling.”
Second Amendment Foundation
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 720,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
There are a lot of legal options to spend money, perhaps our scarcest resource, on and this is not one I consider a high (pun intended) priority. This should be dealt with legislatively where the 2A community gets some good things in a bill that gives the Ds something like recategorizing cannabis and allowing dispensaries to use the banking system. I don’t knowingly associate with any pot user so it may no longer be valid to assume they are mostly left wing Ds.
Government has absolutely zero constitutional authority to regulate the possession and/or use of any substance. To claim otherwise is to say that we have no bodily autonomy and are essentially a slave to the state. If you have to defer to the government regarding what you are “allowed” to put into your own body then you are not free. For those of you who support prohibition but oppose mandated vaccination, you should understand that if government has the power to tell you what you CAN’T put into your own body then they have the power to tell you what you… Read more »
This is a prime example of what happens when public policy is driven by ideology and not by reason. The left has pushed the marijuana as medicine line for decades. I have watched this intently because I like many in my family suffer from glaucoma. The party line has been that pot is an effective treatment for conditions like glaucoma. That was used as a justification to legalize medical marijuana and that legalization was the camel’s nose under the tent as far as expanding medical marijuana to recreational use. If you look at the patterns of state legalization efforts that… Read more »
Merrick Garland and Chistopher Wray did not have a problem with a crack head purchasing and owning a gun while under the influence of crack . Is it just me or do we have a double standard here by the FBI and DOJ ? Glad they are being put under some spotlight for thier 2 tier Justice system .
This is just another leftist scheme to eliminate as many Americans as possible from any 2A participation.
This is one, while constitutional, I can’t recommend. Carrying/operating a firearm requires some caution and skill. Innocent people have been killed or maimed by accident, ask Baldwin. You can see professional shooters have a.d.’s from time to time. Mistakes happen. Accidents happen. There is good reason why it’s against the law to drive drunk or under the influence of drugs; innocent people die or are maimed for life. I would not be going to the range or hunting or anywhere else with someone who is armed and drunk or drugged, there’s just too much that can go wrong and once… Read more »