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The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the
prosecution had violated Paola Connelly's right to keep and bear
arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment citing a
landmark 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun
rights.
"Marijuana user or not, Paola is a member of our political
community and thus has a presumptive right to bear arms," U.S.
Circuit Judge Kurt Engelhardt, an appointee of Republican former
President Donald Trump, wrote for a three-judge panel.
Engelhardt said that while the government may be allowed to bar
someone currently under the influence of drugs from having
weapons, "there is no historical justification for disarming a
sober citizen not presently under an impairing influence."
The ruling partly upheld a judge's decision to toss on Second
Amendment grounds all of the charges Connelly faced. The panel
revived a separate charge that she violated a ban on
transferring firearms to someone using illegal drugs.
The U.S. Department of Justice and Connelly's attorney did not
respond to requests for comment.
She was indicted after El Paso police officers responded in
December 2021 to a report of shots fired at her home after a
conflict arose between her husband and their neighbor.
Upon arrival, officers found Connelly's husband standing at the
neighbor's door firing a shotgun.
Following his arrest, officers spoke with Connelly, who
indicated she sometimes smoked marijuana. A search of the
Connellys' home found drug paraphernalia and several guns,
including some she owned.
In upholding the dismissal of the gun possession charge against
Connelly, Engelhardt cited a 2022 ruling by the U.S. Supreme
Court's 6-3 conservative majority that established a new test
for assessing whether modern firearm restrictions comply with
the Second Amendment.
The court's ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
v. Bruen requires gun regulations to be "consistent with this
nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation." Many laws
have been declared invalid following that decision.
Engelhardt said until the 19th Century, little regulation of
drugs existed. While some laws dating to the country's founding
barred carrying weapons while under the influence of alcohol,
"none barred gun possession by regular drinkers," he wrote.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia
Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)
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