Hunter Biden, the Marijuana Movement and the 2nd Amendment

Hunter Biden has reached a settlement with federal authorities in which he will plead guilty to two counts of non-payment of his taxes. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend a suspended sentence, while a separate firearms charge is likely to be dismissed if he meets the conditions of a pre-trial diversionary scheme. Federal law says you can’t have a gun if you’re convicted of marijuana, but that’s challenged in court. Could Hunter Biden Be the New Face of Second Amendment Proponents?

The legal marijuana industry was worth $28 billion in 2022, with an expected increase in 2023. Currently, 23 states have recreational marijuana and 40 states have medical marijuana, and over 48 million Americans use cannabis annually. It’s becoming a big business, with mainstream companies like Constellation, Miracle Grow, AmeriGas and others either investing, partnering or serving as suppliers to the multi-billion dollar industry.

Federal law states that you are prohibited from owning a gun if you are using marijuana. This means that if you have medical marijuana or are in a legal state, you may lose your gun control rights for using marijuana, not selling it, or committing a criminal offense and only occasionally consuming edibles. This includes medical marijuana. To be clear, you can drink alcohol and own a gun, but you could also drink a beer if you buy a gun.

Unfortunately for the Department of Justice (DOJ), the rule is consistently challenged in regional courts. The case drew on precedent from the US Supreme Court, which held that any firearms restrictions must be consistent with the historical context of the 1791 ratification of the Second Amendment. Last June, the Supreme Court reversed decades of lower court case law on the Second Amendment. In the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen case

Most recently, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas won an El Paso resident who was convicted on various counts of possession and transfer of a firearm in 2021 while admitting to being a cannabis user. Judge Cardone granted a motion to reconsider the case and later dismissed the charges.

RELATED: ATF Says Yes to Guns Unless, You Know, Cannabis

According to Joseph Greenlee, director of constitutional studies at the Pro-Second Amendment Firearms Policy Coalition, while Second Amendment proponents are open about marijuana, they have not reached a consensus on whether to support gun rights for those who use hard drugs . Greenlee, whose group in Range v. Arguing on the side of the plaintiff, Attorney General said his group believes people who use marijuana should not be banned from buying guns.

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm via Unsplash

RELATED: Why Generation Z is turning down the beer and turning to marijuana

Given the conflicting rulings from the lower courts, the Supreme Court may one day have to rule on the law’s constitutionality. Hunter Biden’s high profile and years of debate surrounding the indictment will no doubt feed into the discussion of the law.

how the conservative majority of the court would view the matter. Jacob Charles, a professor at Pepperdine’s Caruso School of Law who studies gun laws, said Judge Samuel Alito could be particularly ambivalent.

“I could imagine him going both ways,” Charles said, “obviously for gun rights, but also for strict law enforcement.”

Currently, the two-tier justice system is difficult for the general population and those suffering from medical marijuana, a proven medical benefit.