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Throughout American history, laws have regulated the combination
of guns and intoxicating substances. But at no point in the 18th or 19th cen-
tury did the government disarm individuals who used drugs or alcohol at one
time from possessing guns at another. A few states banned carrying a weapon
while actively under the influence, but those statutes did not emerge until
well after the Civil War. Section 922(g)(3)—the first federal law of its kind—
was not enacted until 1968, nearly two centuries after the Second Amend-
ment was adopted.
In short, our history and tradition may support some limits on an
intoxicated person’s right to carry a weapon, but it does not justify disarming
a sober citizen based exclusively on his past drug usage. Nor do more gen-
eralized traditions of disarming dangerous personssupport thisrestriction on
nonviolent drug users. As applied to Daniels, then, § 922(g)(3) violates the
Second Amendment. We reverse the judgment of conviction and render a
dismissal of the indictment.