Illinois Attorney General: Marijuana Users Are Simply Too Dangerous To Own Firearms

Marijuana users must have been ingesting some good stuff if they thought that states like Illinois that have legalized recreational weed usage would support their gun rights, too. After all, those who consume the devil’s lettuce deserve the right of self-defense, just like everyone else…though the federal government disagrees. That’s because a gun in the hand beats a cop halfway across town when the bad guys make an appearance.

While politicians in the Land of Pritzker have paid lip service to racial “equity” and “social justice,” those of us who have abstained from weed knew good and well that everyone from the Governor on down wouldn’t stand up for everyday pot smokers’ gun rights. We knew hoplophobic pols would throw pot-smoking gun owners under the bus at the first opportunity.

Sure enough, the Prairie State’s Attorney General, Kwame Raoul, co-wrote an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court arguing against pot users owning or using firearms. In the brief, Raoul wrote that “habitual” users should be blocked from gun ownership altogether, citing the “dangerous choices that [marijuana] users may make.”

Legal Newsline has the deep dive:

Six years ago, Illinois lawmakers added the state to the ranks of those legalizing the recreational use of marijuana — in part, using concerns related to racial equity and social justice to justify the decriminalization regime.

Nonetheless, Illinois’ attorney general now has told the U.S. Supreme Court that the state should still be allowed to cite “habitual” use of marijuana to justify blocking people from owning guns…

“Indeed, the public can be endangered by habitual drug users who experience ongoing psychological deficits that cause them to make dangerous decisions while handling firearms, commit dangerous actions that put others at risk, and expose themselves to unsafe environments to obtain drugs,” Raoul and his fellow attorneys general wrote in their brief.

They noted studies indicating the use of marijuana and other drugs show “a strong link between drug use and violence,” including a greater likelihood “to engage in robbery and violence.” They noted “almost 50% of all state and federal prisoners who had committed violent felonies were drug abusers or addicts in the year before their arrest, as compared to only 2% of the general population.”

“… Firearm possession by habitual drug users can pose a danger to the public both because of the dangerous choices that users may make, whether or not under the influence at the time, and because obtaining unlawful drugs can expose them to the inherent violence and criminality associated with the drug trade,” Raoul and the other attorneys general wrote.

Raoul summed up his argument by claiming that, “Allowing habitual drug users to carry or use firearms significantly increases danger to our communities.”

Left unstated in Raoul’s belief that no civilian should be allowed to carry or use firearms. He sees the very concept of average citizens packing heat as a “danger to our communities.” If only the “progressive” AG spent half as much energy protecting everyday citizens by jailing criminals as he does working to disarm law-abiding Illinoisans.