A federal law barring illegal drug users from possessing a gun is facially constitutional, but not as applied to an occasional marijuana user who was sober when arrested, the Fifth Circuit ruled Wednesday.
“Our history and tradition may support some limits on a presently intoxicated person’s right to carry a weapon,” the court said, “but they do not support disarming a sober person based solely on past substance usage.”
Paola Connelly was charged with possessing a firearm as an unlawful user of a controlled substance after police officers found firearms and drug paraphernalia in her home in 2021. Connelly ...