Apparently confirming again that first kid Hunter Biden did, in fact, lie on his background check form to purchase a firearm while using drugs, lawyers for the controversial son of President Joe Biden have announced that the Second Amendment itself will be used as a legal defense if Hunter is charged with a crime related to that purchase.
As Katie reported earlier in pointing out the Biden administration's unserious calls for a crackdown on firearm dealers, it's a "federal felony to lie on a firearm background check form" and the crime is punishable by a prison term as long as 15 years.
Now, according to new reporting from Politico, "Hunter Biden could soon find himself in a surprising position: at the cutting edge of the fight to strengthen the Second Amendment." What a(n absurd) time to be alive.
From Politico's scoop:
The president’s son is the target of a Justice Department investigation scrutinizing his purchase of a gun in 2018 — a time when he has said he was regularly using crack cocaine. Federal law bans drug users from owning guns...
His lawyers have already told Justice Department officials that, if their client is charged with the gun crime, they will challenge the law under the Second Amendment, according to a person familiar with the private discussions granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly. That could turn a case that is already fraught with political consequences into a high-profile showdown over the right to bear arms.
The dispute would come as the White House fights to tighten gun laws. And it could put conservative gun-rights enthusiasts, who typically criticize the Biden family, in unusual alignment with the president’s son.
That is, Hunter's legal team doesn't have a defense that will seek to disprove Hunter was using crack when he bought a firearm, they're claiming that doing so shouldn't be illegal because the Second Amendment guarantees his right to keep and bear arms, no matter what extracurricular activities he engaged or engages in.
When Hunter purchased the firearm in 2018, he asserted on the required background check form that he was not "addicted to" or even an "unlawful user" of any "controlled substance." But in his own book, Hunter wrote that he was routinely using crack cocaine — "every 15 minutes" — at the same time he said he wasn't using controlled substances.
The crazy thing is his lawyers basically admit (beyond what Hunter already confessed in his book) that he used crack while purchasing and carrying:
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) June 1, 2023
"Lawyers for Biden told the Justice Department they will use the Second Amendment as defense for his purchase if he is charged"
That means Hunter Biden might end up making himself into something of a high-profile test case for challenging the prohibition on illicit drug users purchasing/owning guns...while his dad is doing everything in his power to make it more difficult for Americans — including law abiding citizens who are not using crack — to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Politico enumerated a series of challenges to the law banning drug users from owning guns that stem from the Supreme Court's decision in State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen last year, a case in which "the court's six-justice conservative majority ruled that contemporary gun restrictions must be consistent with those of the founding era."
More via Politico:
This new constitutional test presents a massive opening for people working to loosen gun restrictions, since firearm laws in America’s founding era were, in some ways, extremely permissive. The president, meanwhile, called the ruling deeply troubling and said it “contradicts both common sense and the Constitution.”
Since Bruen, most courts have still upheld the law banning drug users from owning guns, according to Jeff Welty, a professor at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina who closely tracks gun cases. But several have ruled against it.
“A majority isn’t everybody,” Welty said. “And given how unsettled the law is in this area, I think anyone charged with a violation of that statute would give serious consideration to raising the Second Amendment as a defense.”
Joe Biden thinks loosening restrictions on firearm ownership flies in the face of "common sense and the Constitution" so, naturally, that is apparently Hunter Biden's chosen defense if he does face charges in the matter.
The whole situation could present yet another mess that impacts the President Biden's work, specifically his administration's efforts to make it more difficult to purchase and own firearms. As Dana Loesch rightly noted, every Democrat advocating for stricter gun control laws should be forced to answer whether they support Hunter Biden's decision to use the Second Amendment to defend (what he claims) is his right to buy and bear arms while admittedly using crack cocaine multiple times an hour.
Does @GavinNewsom , who backed Biden, also back Hunter invoking his 2A rights to protect his purchase and possession while admittedly using crack? Demand every gun control Democrat on the ballot answer this question.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) June 1, 2023