Hunter Biden’s attorneys intend to argue he was within his Second Amendment rights to purchase a handgun in 2018 during a time in his life in which he had admitted he was addicted to crack cocaine, according to a Politico report on Thursday.
During a time when his father, President Joe Biden, is making the case for further restricting gun rights, the younger Biden might look to use recent legal precedent to shield himself from charges, should they come down, the report said.
Biden, 53, purchased a handgun in October 2018 at a time when he later wrote in his memoir that he was “smoking crack every 15 minutes.”
That means the president’s son lied on an ATF Form 4473 when he bought the gun.
The form asks prospective gun buyers, “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?”
Anyone who answers that question in the affirmative is denied their right to purchase a gun, such as the pistol Biden bought.
According to Politico, Biden’s attorneys have a plan in place to use the Second Amendment to protect him from the charge.
The Justice Department is investigating the president’s son for alleged tax crimes and the alleged purchase of the gun under false pretenses.
It is not clear how Biden’s legal team intends to argue against potential financial crimes charges, but Politico reported it intends to cite a Supreme Court ruling that has been championed by some gun rights proponents.
Does the Second Amendment allow crack addicts to buy guns?
Yes: 0% (0 Votes)
No: 100% (2 Votes)
Last June, the court reviewed the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen and ruled that a New York law requiring people to be licensed to carry guns in public is unconstitutional.
President Biden slammed the ruling.
“I urge states to continue to enact and enforce commonsense laws to make their citizens and communities safer from gun violence,” he said in a June 23, 2022, statement in which he also expressed he was “deeply disappointed” in the ruling.
But per Politico, the ruling could be used by Hunter Biden’s legal team, which also will cite numerous other challenges to gun laws — including those by people who lied about using drugs — since the court’s decision.
Some of those challenges were related to whether it is constitutional for people who use marijuana, for example, to be barred from buying firearms.
In some cases, state judges have ruled people who are addicted to or have been found in possession of drugs are not barred from exercising their Second Amendment rights.
If he is successful in the reported legal tactic, Hunter Biden very well might help bring about the relaxing of some restrictions on the right to bear arms.
Lying on ATF Form 4473 can carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
