Hunter Biden acquired a handgun and lied about his illicit drug use on a form he completed to legally purchase the weapon. He had possession of that gun for eleven days, during which time he posed a credible threat to no one except himself. He faces up to 25 years in prison for his lie. Donald J. Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts involving misrepresentations on business documents to cover-up payments to a sex worker, and he may lose his gun permit. That he will face any prison time is inconceivable [and impractical]. Depriving the former President of a gun will not make America any safer, especially since he may soon regain control of the United States armed forces as its Commander-in-Chief. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was an outspoken supporter of ‘gun control,’ but once remarked that she kept “a little gun” in her bedside table, apparently to help her sleep better. There is no record that she had a permit for the gun or that she was the purchaser of the weapon. Former Vice-President Richard “Dick” Cheney shot his hunting partner, Harry Whittington, in the face while his Secret Service escort looked on. No charges were brought against him, excessive alcohol consumption was rumored to be involved, and Mr. Cheney never issued a public apology for the shooting. In fact, it was Mr. Whittington who issued a heartfelt apology several days later for getting in the way of Mr. Cheney’s rifle.
What all of these situations demonstrate is that the American attitude toward firearms is inexplicable, inconsistent, and hazardous. The Second Amendment to the Constitution was reasonable and appropriate in 1789 when the Southern states wanted to defend themselves against slave revolts and all the states wanted an alternative to a standing army to protect them from enemies “foreign and domestic.” Southerners noticed that the people they enslaved, exploited, and abused were understandably angry and were inclined to slit their masters’ throats if given an opportunity. All of the states recognized that standing armies were expensive and unpredictable. A Commander-in-Chief, other than George Washington, might decide that democracy was inconvenient and force a monarchy on the new nation.
None of those musket-toting Founding Fathers realized what their unwieldy and inaccurate rifles and pistols would evolve into. What they referred to as “Arms” in the Second Amendment were devices that could discharge no more than 5 ‘rounds’ [lead balls] per minute, even in the hands of highly trained and skilled operators. These firearms were so inaccurate that the Eighteenth Century British military drill for loading and shooting a musket did not include mention of the term “Aim.” Our insistence on the universal application of the Second Amendment to all matters involving firearms has made our nation an armed camp with a variety of lunatics, insurrectionists, and well-armed criminals sallying forth on a daily basis to test their weapons in schoolyards, shopping malls, and government facilities.
The many pronouncements after the Biden and Trump verdicts that “No one is above the law” is comical. A more accurate assessment is that ‘all Defendants are equal before the Law, but some are more equal than others.’ Hunter Biden is an example of this, in that his potential punishment, let alone the legal proceedings against him, ignore the absurdity of the charges he faced. He took ‘controlled substances’ without a prescription and denied being a drug addict. He did and denied precisely what hundreds of thousands of people, including those working in the entertainment industry, law enforcement, and healthcare, and who never face criminal charges, end up admitting to at Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings every year.
He filled out a government form that denied him his Second Amendment right to a firearm unless he perjured himself. The question on the form which demanded he acknowledge illegal ‘controlled substance’ use was a violation of his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. The National Rifle Association (NRA), more likely than not, would have sent their most aggressive trial attorneys to contest the government claims against this man if his name were John Doe. Inexplicably, the NRA and other advocates for gun rights had nothing to say about this prosecution.
Hunter Biden was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and drug addicts and alcoholics should not be trusted with firearms, but we do not do drug screens and sobriety tests on people applying for guns and rifles. We do not do spot checks on their urine after they get their weapon of choice because that would violate ‘due process’ unless there is ‘probable cause.’ Even if drug screens were adopted as part of gun licensing, a much greater threat, that of alcohol use, would remain a problem. A person abusing barbiturates, Xanax or Fentanyl, all of which are ‘controlled substances,’ is unlikely to commit a crime (other than DWI) while under the influence because these drugs have excessive sedative effects. Drugs notorious for inciting erratic, violent behavior include alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, and anabolic steroids. The use of these agents would be a reasonable basis for denying an individual access to a firearm, but alcoholic beverages are unregulated and perfectly legal, and anabolic steroids are widely available and are used to improve strength or simply sculpt muscles.
Complicating the issue of drug use has been the recent adoption of laws reclassifying drugs involved in women’s reproductive healthcare, such as misoprostol and mifepristone, as ‘controlled substances.’ These drugs can be used to induce abortions but are not addicting or otherwise associated with erratic behavior. They are safe and effective in the management of a variety of hormonal and reproductive problems. In many situations, they are life-saving options, but their value as conventional medicines has been usurped by the perception amongst anti-abortion lobbyists that they can safely induce an abortion. Their classification as ‘controlled substances’ limits women’s healthcare options, while simultaneously providing a basis for denying firearms to women who want to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
Hunter Biden will probably go to jail for lying on a firearms permit, but our country will not be safer by virtue of his incarceration, and his punishment will certainly not fit the crime. Donald J. Trump will not go to jail, and he will probably not lose his gun permit. The only people at risk from his carrying a pistol are the heavily armed Secret Service men and women surrounding him 24/7. Nancy Reagan was never criticized for her hypocrisy but is remembered for her gun control advocacy, and Dick Cheney was never charged with reckless endangerment or failing to report the hunting incident that nearly killed his friend. The law may wear a blindfold, as she is portrayed in statues with her holding the scales of Justice, but she is certainly peeking from under that blindfold to see who is standing before her.
Dr. Lechtenberg is an Easton resident who graduated from Tufts University and Tufts Medical School in Massachusetts and subsequently trained at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan. He worked as a neurologist at several New York Hospitals, including Kings County and The Long Island College Hospital, while maintaining a private practice, teaching at SUNY Downstate Medical School, and publishing 15 books on a variety of medical topics. He worked in drug development in the U.S., as well as in England, Germany, and France.
