Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is relying on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to support arguments in a challenge to federal regulations that make it illegal for medical marijuana patients to buy guns.
Fried, a Democrat who is running for governor, has long championed medical marijuana, which Florida voters broadly legalized in 2016. Her office also issues concealed-weapons licenses.
In April, Fried filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice that challenges a federal law and regulations she alleged: “forbid Floridians from possessing or purchasing a firearm on the sole basis that they are state-law-abiding medical marijuana patients.”
Fried’s lawyers on Friday filed an amended complaint focusing heavily on a Supreme Court ruling that struck down a New York law that placed strict limits on carrying concealed weapons in public. Gun-control advocates have expressed concerns the decision could severely restrict states’ ability to regulate guns.
