Hunter Biden Case Could Make Him A Champion In Expanding The 2nd Amendment
Hunter Biden, the President’s son, is the target of a Justice Department investigation scrutinizing his purchase of a gun in 2018 when he said he was routinely using crack cocaine. Biden's lawyers have already indicated that he will challenge the law banning him from owning a gun under the Second Amendment if he is charged.
The drug-user prohibition has long been considered an unassailable restriction on firearm ownership. But since the Supreme Court’s radical decision last June in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen to uphold the Second Amendment, the constitutionality of the law - and many other provisions restricting gun ownership - has come into question.
Several district court judges have already ruled against the law, indicating that it is contrary to the Second Amendment and America’s historical tradition of gun regulation. On the other hand, other district judges have shown more leniency towards the law, claiming that it is in line with tradition.
Jeff Welty, professor at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina, commented that a conviction of Biden may bring the constitutionality of the law into the spotlight. He said that anyone charged with a violation of the statute would give serious consideration to raising a Second Amendment-based defense.
Second Amendment advocates such as the Firearms Policy Coalition, Gun Owners of America, and other groups are uncertain on the topic of whether gun rights should be extended to drug users. But Larry Keane, the director of the gun-industry trade association National Shooting Sports Foundation, says his group has not officially taken a position on the matter.
The Drug-User Prohibition is now awaiting a ruling from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, a key court for Biden because it oversees Delaware. If a final decision is rendered on the case, the Supreme Court could very well be forced to settle the statute’s constitutionality.
Until then, we have to wait and see if the White House’s fight to tighten gun laws will be met with an unexpected challenge from Hunter Biden - a challenge that could potentially align conservative gun-rights supporters with the President’s son.