SAF Files Brief Seeking Preliminary Injunction on Medical Marijuana Disqualifier

Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP, File

There’s very little that the progressive anti-civil liberty camp can lean on when it comes to regulations on the Second Amendment – the SCOTUS says so. Sure, there are a ton of laws and infringements, enough to go around. If you asked me, “John, is there going to be a time where you say that’s enough?” I’d say, “I highly doubt there’ll be too many infringements removed during my lifetime.” One infringement deals with the devil’s lettuce and it creating a disqualifier for firearm possession. Our friends over at the Second Amendment Foundation have filed a brief seeking a preliminary injunction against the law keeping medical marijuana users from being fully patriated with their rights.

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Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation and two individual plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the federal ban on gun ownership by medical marijuana users have filed a brief supporting their motion for a preliminary injunction in the case.

The brief was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. 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 and James Irey, a veteran who was recommended medical marijuana but has refrained from obtaining a card as it would deny his ability to exercise his Second Amendment rights. They are represented by attorneys Adam Kraut, who serves as SAF’s executive director, and Joshua Prince of Bechtelsville, Pa. Defendants are Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and ATF Director Steven Dettelbach, and the U.S. Government.

Regardless of what side of the Mary Jane debate one is on, this is a pretty benign approach. Aside from the fact that 23 U.S. jurisdictions have decriminalized marijuana for recreational use, 38 states, 4 U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia allow its consumption for medical use. 

We’re talking about folks who have sought the help of a physician and received a prescription. Not that the toker at large should be excluded, because they shouldn’t, it’s just quite pragmatic to go after the issue this way.

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This is going to be one hell of a fight, and I don’t mean for the Second Amendment Foundation. I mean for Uncle Sam. Adam Kraut and Joshua Prince are the attorneys litigating this matter. These guys are beasts when it comes to swabbing up the deck with crappy law. Attorney General Garland, the guy who did not have what it takes to be on the Supreme Court, should just say this is indefensible.

“Due to the law individuals are placed in the untenable situation of having to choose whether to use a medicine recommended to them by a doctor to treat their symptoms at the expense of their Second Amendment rights or exercise their rights at the detriment of their health,” said Adam Kraut, SAF’s Executive Director. “Having to make such a choice is simply wrong and we look forward to vindicating the rights of those affected.”

The lawsuit challenges restrictions contained in 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(3), (d)(3), and all related laws, regulations, policies, and procedures, including, but not limited to, 27 C.F.R. §§ 478.32(a)(3), (d)(3) which prohibit firearms purchases and possession by persons who use marijuana or other controlled substances.

In their brief, SAF and its partners remind the court that, “Defendants have prohibited a particular class of persons, including Plaintiffs Greene and Irey, along with SAF’s similarly situated members, from possessing or obtaining a MMID, and utilizing medical marijuana for treatment, while possessing firearms and ammunition in direct violation of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, as held by Heller, McDonald, and Bruen.”

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Garland and Co are going to have a hard time finding analogues to justify this law that’s long overdue for repeal. The entire classification of marijuana needs to be stricken from the books, and it makes me wonder what the heck is the Biden-Harris administration doing about this?

Biden preached for some MJ reform in the past. Why doesn't he step up to the plate and swing for keeps by directing the DOJ to have any drug related disqualifiers removed from the NICS database all together? It would fall in line with his policy.

“It is long past the time for this restriction to be challenged,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Our lawsuit raises very legitimate issues for a growing number of law-abiding citizens whose Second Amendment rights are unquestionably and arbitrarily infringed upon. The restriction lacks any direct or analogous historical support, as required by the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen ruling.”

No legal battle is like shooting fish in a barrel. If there was going to be one that is, this might be one though. The social conversation has happened, 38 states have incrementally allowed medical marijuana to be prescribed, almost a third of the U.S. and territories allow marijuana just for fun, and there are no historical analogues to support such an infringement. The leftist progressive dirtbags in courts and legislatures who want to use the argument that “people support” xyz measure, ergo it’s sound, need to put this in their bowl and smoke it.

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If you’d like to learn more about the great work that the Second Amendment Foundation is doing, visit them on the web. Also consider tossing them some lettuce in the non-devil variety HERE or think about joining.

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