In a ruling issued on Friday, a federal judge in Oklahoma said prohibiting marijuana users from owning guns violates the Second Amendment. That restriction, U.S. District Judge Patrick Wyrick concluded in United States v. Harrison, is not "consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation"—the constitutional test established by the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
The Oklahoma case involves Jared Michael Harrison, a marijuana dispensary employee who was pulled over last May on his way to work for failing to stop at a red light. Police found marijuana and a loaded revolver in his car. Although marijuana is legal for medical use in Oklahoma, Harrison was not an authorized patient, so he was charged with illegal possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia under state law. He also was indicted for violating 18 USC 922(g)(3), a federal law that makes it a felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, for an "unlawful user" of a "controlled substance" to receive or possess a firearm.
