A federal appeals court has sided with medical marijuana patients seeking to exercise their Second Amendment rights, deepening the national debate over whether cannabis use should disqualify individuals from firearm ownership under federal law.
In a decision issued this week, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated a lower court ruling that upheld the federal ban under Section 922(g)(3), which prohibits “unlawful users” of controlled substances from owning or purchasing guns. The opinion, authored by Judge Elizabeth Branch, concluded that the Justice Department failed to demonstrate that state-legal medical marijuana patients should be treated as inherently dangerous.
“The government failed to meet its burden…to establish that disarming medical marijuana users is consistent with this Nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulation,” the court wrote. The ruling noted that plaintiffs, including Florida medical cannabis patients Vera Cooper and Nicole Hansell, had no criminal convictions and participated in a tightly regulated state program.
The case also involves former police officer Neill Franklin, who argued he should be able to use medical marijuana without forfeiting his right to own a firearm. Former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) initially joined the lawsuit but was removed after leaving office.
The decision adds to a growing patchwork of rulings across the country, with some courts striking down or narrowing enforcement of Section 922(g)(3). The debate has intensified since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, which required gun restrictions to align with historical context at the time of the Second Amendment’s ratification.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department is urging the Supreme Court to take up one of several pending cases to resolve the split among appeals courts. Federal officials maintain that marijuana users are comparable to other groups historically barred from firearm ownership, such as felons and the mentally ill.
For now, the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling provides new momentum to cannabis patients and gun rights advocates who argue the federal prohibition is outdated and unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is expected to revisit the matter later this year, potentially setting the stage for a landmark decision that could reshape the intersection of cannabis policy and gun rights nationwide.
Read the whole article from MarijuanaMoment here.
