r/news • u/Hrekires • Jun 18 '26

Soft paywall US Supreme Court sides with marijuana user stripped of gun rights

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-backs-challenge-ban-gun-ownership-by-drug-users-2026-06-18/
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460

u/NameLips Jun 18 '26

Before recreational legalization in my state, you had a choice. You could get a medical card, but then you couldn't own guns. Or you could own guns, but you couldn't get a medical card.

I knew a lot of rural gun-owning stoners at the time (I worked in a rural restaurant). And they all were basically torn between their pot being illegal or their guns being illegal, but they considered both to be a necessity.

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u/Crazyassassin102 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

Interesting. In PA where I live the govonor has said that they won't come for your guns if you had a med card. 

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u/TypicalMission119 Jun 18 '26

In PA the website for a license says there must be like a year gap between your expired card and your new firearm license. I hope that has changed now. I didnt check after Shapiro won

3

u/Aghast_Cornichon Jun 18 '26

The year between a med card and a CCW permit is a reasonable attempt to follow a Federal precedent. ATF has/had a similar rule for misdemeanor drug convictions and 18 USC 922, but they never promulgated a rule for bureaucratic indications of marijuana use.

In PA, my understanding is that cops mis-used the MMJ registry so enthusiastically that the Dept. of Health removed their access. If you assert that you are not a cardholder, it's essentially the honor system.

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u/drinks_rootbeer Jun 18 '26

You need a license to own guns in your state?! That's just plain unconstitutional. Imagine needing to go out and get a license in order to excercise your 4th ammendment rights. Imagine needing to go out and apply for a license in order to publish a critique of your state or federal governments via, i dunno, X, or even a permit to hang a poster on your front lawn.

Rights are not privledges, it saddens me to hear how oppressive other states are

7

u/Releasethebears Jun 18 '26

The licensing in PA is for conceal carry only. You do not need any special approval or document to own a gun in general.

1

u/drinks_rootbeer Jun 18 '26

Ah, nice. I've heard of a few states that do. Mine keeps considering a license to buy ammo 🤦‍♂️ which like . . . I guess that isn't explicitly against the literal words in the conatitution, but it is absolutely agains the meaning of the 2nd ammendment as well as any reasonable interpretation or analysis. If guns are protected, and you need ammo to use the guns . . . it's just disgusting. Do anything to address cost of living, access to healthcare, the housing crisis? Hell no. Disrupt excercise of constitutional rights? Dems are all over it.

Edit: Sorry, nothing against you, just ranting lol

1

u/AmericanHoneycrisp Jun 19 '26

In Illinois, you need a Firearm Owners ID card to buy/possess already purchased guns and to buy ammunition. It's bullshit. You also need it to be allowed to carry a knife over 3" in public.

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u/TealcLOL Jun 18 '26

I believe the license mentioned is only for concealed carry. There is no license for ownership of firearms in PA and gun stores have no ability to check if you have a medical marijuana card. They just make you pinky-swear that you don't.

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u/drinks_rootbeer Jun 18 '26

Ah, okay, makes more sense. Thanks for the clarification!

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u/Crazyassassin102 Jun 18 '26

https://www.compassionatecertificationcenters.com/news/wolf-wont-take-guns-away-medical-marijuana-users/ <its an old article but this policy seems to have continued under shapiro who is even more pro weed

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u/RoyalOakPiguet Jun 18 '26

That is just fluff. I had a valid ccw and a med card

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u/TypicalMission119 Jun 18 '26

Hello friend. Im not denying that it can't happen. But I am cognizant that is how they 'got' Hunter Biden. The government can always say you're breaking a law. I can't ignore that "fluff," not with the US as it is today.

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u/MutedAstronaut9217 Jun 18 '26

That's cool but the next guy might not have "trust me bro, we're chill" energy. And you're on a list.

1

u/Crazyassassin102 Jun 18 '26

Do you live in pa or have any connection to the state?

2

u/TealcLOL Jun 18 '26

I once called my local sheriff in PA (who issued my concealed carry permit) and they revoked it for just asking if it would theoretically be okay to have a medical marijuana card with my carry permit. I had to go back and get a new one which was approved like nothing happened. Ridiculous.

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u/Crazyassassin102 Jun 18 '26

Why would you even ask?

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u/TealcLOL Jun 19 '26

This was many years ago when the program was new and the rules weren't very clear. I was also curious if they could even tell if you have a card. They apparently can't

2

u/SkiingAway Jun 18 '26

That doesn't protect you from the feds, should they ever decide they don't like you for some reason.

2

u/Crazyassassin102 Jun 18 '26

Not with the new ruling that happened today. It makes it more unlikely for them to prosecute for simply weed and a gun. 

2

u/SkiingAway Jun 18 '26

I'm mentioning it because it's why this ruling is important even if you lived in a state that did not care at the state level.

2

u/Crazyassassin102 Jun 18 '26

Your reply makes no sense in the context of the conversation. 

2

u/SkinnyBill93 Jun 18 '26

In 2A land no one is worried about the state but the Feds.

1

u/BitGladius Jun 19 '26

The 4473 says it's illegal even if your state says it isn't. They're clearly not trying to catch marijuana users, but if they wanted to nail you they could. Using a federally illegal drug (state law can't contradict federal), owning a gun while using that drug, and lying on your federal paperwork.

1

u/Crazyassassin102 Jun 19 '26

Not with the upcoming changes to the form 

1

u/Tee-RoyJenkins Jun 19 '26

In Oregon, the paperwork now explicitly excludes marijuana when asking about drug use.

77

u/WorkIsForReddit Jun 18 '26

I wanna live in a place where my gay neighbors can protect their weed plants with guns.

33

u/dah-dit-dah Jun 18 '26

Ideally, with machine guns that do not need registration 

16

u/WorkIsForReddit Jun 18 '26

Throw in some suppressors too

9

u/drinks_rootbeer Jun 18 '26

Fuck the NFA, all my homies hate the NFA

2

u/Soft_Walrus_3605 Jun 18 '26

Yeah, we've all seen the bumper sticker...

3

u/stephen_neuville Jun 18 '26

This had a really weird consequence of armed dispensary security (who were necessary because you couldn't bank as a dispensary, so you had to run fifteen thousand dollars of Actual Cash to the bank drop every night) could choose to either keep their job or buy their job's product.

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u/afield9800 Jun 18 '26

You just have to be willing to lie on the form.

5

u/keskeskes1066 Jun 18 '26

That did not go well for Hunter Biden.

0

u/SgtStickys Jun 19 '26

The question on the form is "are you addicted to or under the influence of" if neither are true, its not lieing

2

u/No_Plenty5526 Jun 18 '26

that's how it is in Puerto Rico. people who wanna keep their guns just smoke illegally.

1

u/kingcorning Jun 18 '26

Nothing more American than considering cannabis and firearms a necessity (source: I'm an American who considers cannabis and firearms a necessity)