The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that the federal ban on firearms sales to medical marijuana card holders does not violate the Second Amendment, according to an Associated Press report.
In their 3-0 decision, the judges ruled that Congress reasonably concluded that cannabis and other drug use “raises the risk of irrational or unpredictable behavior with which gun use should not be associated.” The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has told gun dealers that they can assume that a medical marijuana card holder uses cannabis, thus disqualifying them from gun ownership.
The ruling stems from the lawsuit filed by S. Rowan Wilson who attempted to buy a gun for self-defense in Nevada in 2011. The dealer refused, citing the federal rule barring gun sales to illegal drug users.
Chaz Rainey, Wilson’s attorney, is planning to appeal the ruling, saying there needs to be more consistency in applying the Second Amendment.
“We live in a world where having a medical marijuana card is enough to say you don’t get a gun, but if you’re on the no-fly list, your constitutional right is still protected,” he said in the report.
The court’s jurisdiction applies to the nine Western states, including Washington and Oregon where cannabis is legal for recreational use.
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