Let me start by clearing something up. Just because I don’t condemn marijuana use and think that those who use it while following state laws should be barred from owning a gun, it doesn’t mean I’m condoning or encouraging its use. I’m just someone who thinks people have a right to screw up their lives in their own way, and since marijuana users aren’t any more violent than any other group–they’re usually more chill than most, in my experience, which is actually a bit too chill, if you get my meaning–they shouldn’t be prohibited.
I’ve been accused of condoning or encouraging drug use after I wrote something about the intersection of marijuana use and gun ownership, and so I’m putting that to rest here and now.
And honestly, I’m not the only one who sees it this way. It seems some Republican senators are open to addressing this.
Several Republican senators are questioning the federal ban on gun possession by people who use marijuana—with one saying that if alcohol drinkers can lawfully buy and use firearms, the same standard should apply to cannabis consumers.
In a series of interviews with Marijuana Moment, the GOP lawmakers discussed the intersection of Second Amendment rights and drug policy as the U.S. Supreme Court is considering taking up several pending cases on the issue—which centers around a federal statute known as Section 922(g)(3) that some say is inconsistent with conservative principles.
“Why would I have a problem with that any more than somebody who drinks alcohol?” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said of cannabis consumers being able to possess guns.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said that while he needs to “look into the details” of the specific pending legal cases before the Supreme Court, he’s “highly skeptical” of the ban, “given that marijuana is legal in my state, and my state probably has the most gun owners of any state in the country.”
“A Second Amendment right can’t be trumped by a statute,” he said. “That’s why it’s called a constitutional right.”
Bingo.
A “constitutional right” isn’t a right granted by the Constitution, just one enshrined there, and you can’t just make that right go away because you really don’t like the decisions some people make, so long as they don’t harm others.
The truth is that marijuana has gained in acceptance in recent years, becoming legal at the state level all across the country to some degree or another.
The federal government has condoned this for years, through multiple administrations, so it’s safe to say it’s here to stay. Yet it’s that inconsistency that bothers me.
It’s fine for people to use this substance that’s still illegal at the federal level. It’s being sold openly in special shops that only sell marijuana and, perhaps, related accessories. It’s happening in the open, and the feds don’t care.
But the moment someone who uses the stuff decides to also own a gun, suddenly they’re going to face the hammer of federal law enforcement should that be discovered.
That’s what should be changed, and I’d live with it one way or the other. I just want to see some consistency.
If the senators opt to address it via legislation, that would be good, if for no other reason than it stops anti-gun states from presenting a double standard on marijuana when it comes to gun owners. It would be a nice change of pace, that’s for sure.
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