Attorneys representing President Joe Biden’s son Hunter have asked a federal judge to dismiss charges against him stemming from the use of an illegal drug while he was in possession of a gun . They argue that prosecutors were applying an unconstitutional law that, if widely enforced, would criminalize millions who smoked marijuana in accordance with state laws.
Hunter Biden’s defence filed a motion for dismissal with the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware Monday. They said the gun charges were politically motivated and violated the Second Amendment. The prosecution was based on a rarely enforced law, which prohibits people who are currently using illicit drugs from purchasing or possessing firearms.
The claim was that the prosecutor had allegedly admitted that “an average citizen would not face prosecution for this crime is supported by DOJ policy and statistical evidence.”
Section 922(g), which is unconstitutionally broad, covers millions, if not tens, of millions, of gun owners that use substances controlled by federal law. This includes marijuana, even though these drugs are legal in the states. The filing states that they are “almost never used”, citing data which indicates that at least 16,000,000 gun owners have violated this statute. They “could face criminal prosecution” for the “exact conduct of Mr. Biden.”
Biden’s charges are not related to marijuana; they relate to his admission that he used crack cocaine regularly for a brief period of time, where he admitted to possessing a firearm. It’s interesting that lawyers are bringing up the cannabis issue to support their argument that the law is being applied discriminatorily.
Biden came close to a plea deal earlier this year, which would have allowed him to avoid prosecution on the gun charge. However, those negotiations failed. His attorneys had suggested before that the case should be dismissed because a federal court decision declaring that the ban on firearms for cannabis users was unconstitutional.
The latest filing highlights the rarity in which federal prosecutions are brought under federal law.
motion states that only 1.8 per cent of criminal prosecutions brought in 2008-2017 under federal gun laws were brought under Section (922(g)(3).
Although lying on the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) gun purchase form is a felony, the legality of drug use has been scrutinized by several federal courts, particularly in the case of cannabis.
The Biden administration claimed that cannabis consumers with guns pose a unique danger to society. This is because they are “unlikely” to store their weapon properly. The Biden administration claimed that cannabis consumers who own guns are a special danger to society. This is because they are “unlikely to” store their weapons properly.
In a brief filed in the case, attorneys from the Justice Department argued that the firearm ban for cannabis consumers is justified by historical analogies to restrictions imposed on the mentally ill or habitually intoxicated during the period of the Second Amendment ratification in1791.
The federal government has claimed repeatedly that these analogues support limiting the gun rights of cannabis users. But a number of federal courts have ruled the marijuana-related prohibition unconstitutional . This has led DOJ to appeal several ongoing cases.
In October, the Justice Department made similar arguments during oral argument in a related but separate case before the U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit. This case is about the Second Amendment rights for medical cannabis patients in Florida.
The attorneys in both cases also discussed a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit from August, Daniels v. United States. This decision found that the ban prohibiting people who use cannabis from possessing firearms was unconstitutional.
DOJ had informed the Eleventh Circuit Court that it believed the ruling to be “incorrectly determined,”, and the department’s lawyer reiterated the government’s view that “there are reasons to doubt the foundations” in the appeals court’s decision.
In February, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma ruled that the prohibition against people using marijuana possessing firearms was unconstitutional. The judge stated that the federal government’s justification for maintaining the law is “concerning.”
In U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, a judge ruled in April that banning people who use marijuana from possessing firearms is unconstitutional–and it said the same legal principle also applies to the sale and transfer of guns.
ATF wrote to Arkansas officials in August to warn them that the recently passed law allowing medical cannabis patients to get concealed carry licenses was “unacceptable” and could compromise the state’s alternative firearm licensing policy, which has been approved by the federal government.
issued a warning shortly after Minnesota’s Governor signed the legalization bill in law. The agency reminded that cannabis users are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms and ammunition until federal prohibition is lifted.
ATF will issue an advisory in 2020 that specifically targets Michigan and requires gun sellers conduct federal background checks for all unlicensed buyers. It said Michigan’s cannabis laws allowed “habitual marijuana consumers” and other disqualified persons to obtain firearms without a license.
A little-noticed FBI memo from 2019, which recently surfaced, shows that the federal government generally does not view it as a crime for medical cannabis caregivers or growers to own guns.
Two Republican members of Congress have introduced two bills in this session, focusing on marijuana and gun policy.
Rep. Brian Mast, co-chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and a member of the House of Representatives, introduced legislation in May that would protect the Second Amendment right of marijuana users in states where the drug is legal. This bill would allow them to buy and possess firearms, which they are currently prohibited to have under federal law.
Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (DNY) has promised to attach that legislation to the bipartisan marijuana banking Bill, which advanced out of Committee last month and awaits floor action.
Mast is also sponsoring a separate Bill from Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV), in this session, which would allow medical marijuana patients to buy and possess firearms.
While Sen. Cory Booker, (D-NJ), said in July, that he believed the justice system had handled the prosecution of the president’s child effectively, he still believes that there is a double standard in the country, which has allowed presidents, members of Congress, and others to admit past marijuana use with impunity , while thousands of people who are less fortunate face punitive cannabis laws .
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The post Hunter Biden’s Attorneys Says Millions Of Marijuana Uses In Legal States Violate Federal Gun Law Being ‘Unconstitutionally Enforced’ first appeared on Marijuana moment.
