A federal appeals court panel has dismissed a three-year prison sentence against a person convicted for possession of a firearm while being an active user of marijuana

Marijuana Moment digs into the ruling by the federal appeals court who sent the case back to the district court to consider again

A federal appeals court panel has dismissed a three-year prison sentence against a person convicted for possession of a firearm while being an active user of marijuana, ruling that the federal government’s prohibition on gun ownership by drug users is justified only in certain circumstances—not always.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said in its opinion issued on Wednesday that while not all disarmament of drug users violates the Second Amendment, it nevertheless sometimes can.

“Nothing in our tradition allows disarmament simply because [the defendant] belongs to a category of people, drug users, that Congress has categorically deemed dangerous,” the ruling says.

Judges returned the matter to a lower court to determine whether the law as applied in the current case is constitutional, noting that further fact-finding is likely necessary and that “the district court is in the best position to take the first crack at it.”

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Federal Appeals Court Says Constitution Doesn’t Support Taking Guns Away From All Marijuana Users Categorically

The Ruling