Federal Appeals Court Upholds Constitutionality of Gun Bans for Drug Users

The court majority says history supports disarming drug users while a dissenting judge said the ruling sets a low bar and flouts common sense.

A customer shops for a pistol in Tinley Park, Ill., on Dec. 17, 2012. Scott Olson/Getty Images

A federal appeals court has ruled that a law barring people who regularly use illegal drugs from owning guns is constitutional because of longstanding concerns about public safety, but ordered a lower court to take a closer look at whether disarming a Pennsylvania man who smokes marijuana violates his individual Second Amendment rights.

In a split opinion issued on July 14, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled in a case involving Erik Harris, who was charged under federal statutes after buying three handguns while regularly using marijuana.