Another Federal Court Rejects Ban on Cannabis Consumers Owning Guns

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Wednesday that prosecutors cannot file gun possession charges against a Texas woman who admitted to being a cannabis user, according to a Reuters report. The ruling reinforces last year’s decision by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to dismiss the charges.

During an interaction with El Paso police following the arrest of her husband in 2021, Paola Connelly told officers that she sometimes used cannabis. Prosecutors ultimately filed charges against her for possessing firearms while being a consumer of an illegal substance after searching her home and finding multiple firearms, including some owned by Connelly.

U.S. Circuit Judge Kurt Engelhardt, appointed by former President Donald Trump (R), wrote this week for a three-judge panel that, “Marijuana user or not, Paola is a member of our political community and thus has a presumptive right to bear arms.” The opinion cites a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights in the U.S. with a new way of determining whether modern firearm restrictions are constitutional: that gun regulations must be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,” the report said.

The judges argued that because alcohol — which is just as intoxicating as cannabis — was widely available at the time and yet the founders failed to disarm even heavy drinkers, historical precedent says it would be unconstitutional to disarm someone for being a cannabis consumer.