The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit last week revived a Second Amendment challenge to the federal law that bars illegal drug users from owning guns. In a ruling published on Wednesday, a three-judge panel unanimously concluded that the federal government had failed to show that policy, as applied to state-authorized medical marijuana users in Florida, is "consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation"—the constitutional test that the U.S. Supreme Court established in the 2022 case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
"When viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, the allegations in the operative complaint do not lead to the inference that the plaintiffs are comparatively similar to either felons or dangerous individuals—the two historical analogues the Federal Government offers in its attempt to meet its burden," writes Judge Elizabeth Branch, a Donald Trump appointee, in an opinion joined by Judges Robert Luck and Gerald Tjoflat, who were appointed by Trump and Gerald Ford, respectively. "We therefore vacate the district court's order and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion."
The case, Cooper v. Attorney General, began as a lawsuit that Nikki Fried, then Florida's commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, filed in April 2022. Fried, a Democrat whose responsibilities included overseeing the issuance of concealed carry permits as well as the state's medical marijuana program, was troubled by the implications of 18 USC 922(g)(3), which makes it a felony for an "unlawful user" of "any controlled substance" to receive or possess a firearm. She argued that Floridians should not have to choose between exercising the constitutional right to armed self-defense and using cannabis for symptom relief in compliance with state law.
