Fried filed the lawsuit in April, tweeting that “state-law-abiding” citizens have the right to manage their freedoms responsibly.
I’m suing the Biden Administration because people’s rights are being limited. Medical marijuana is legal. Guns are legal.
This is about people’s rights and their freedoms to responsibly have both.
— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) April 20, 2022
Department of Justice Lawyers motioned to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming a long history of federal gun regulations regarding intoxication, as it’s traditionally been regarded as a “dangerous” mix. They also cite the disarming of mentally ill citizens as a precedent for prohibitions of this sort, arguing marijuana poses an even greater danger to sound judgment than mental illness does.
However, the Biden administration also maintains that because cannabis is still federally illegal, that alone justifies prohibitions. They argue law-breaking in any form, including drug possession, is a forfeiture of one’s right to keep and bear arms,
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Fried’s lawsuit disagrees, partially relying on recent Supreme Court precedent. In New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen, the court held that “the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.” This struck down New York regulations that required “proper cause” to obtain a concealed carry permit, as simple self-defense should qualify.
Federal lawyers again maintain this precedent does not apply to these regulations, as they only apply to citizens who use marijuana and, by extension, do not abide by federal law. Therefore, the filings argue that the measures do not limit the 2nd Amendment Rights of law-abiding citizens.
“These laws merely prevent drug users who commit federal crimes by unlawfully possessing drugs from possessing and receiving firearms, and only for so long as they are actively engaged in that criminal activity,”
Such restrictions “on unlawful drug users are ‘consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,'” Monday’s memo said, partially quoting from the Supreme Court ruling in the New York case.
While Fried has supported gun rights for marijuana users, her tenure as agricultural commissioner has been marked by a severe slowdown in the issuance of concealed weapon permits and clashes with pro-second-amendment groups.
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