Stupid, But Not Illegal

From the Detroit Free Press: People can’t be charged with a crime simply because they possessed a firearm while intoxicated inside their own home, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled in a case arising from an incident involving former House Speaker Craig DeRoche.
Novi police charged DeRoche with possessing a firearm while intoxicated in 2010 after they were called to his home following a dispute with a neighbor. A district court dismissed the charge, based on DeRoche’s Second Amendment rights. The prosecutor appealed to the circuit court, which upheld the dismissal on the basis of an unlawful search. In a unanimous ruling released today, a three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal, based on the Second Amendment.
“While Second Amendment rights are not unlimited, this conduct is protected,” the panel said.
“Aside from the statute at issue, defendant was not engaging in an unlawful behavior, nor were there any facts to suggest that defendant possessed the handgun for any unlawful purposes.” The panel said preventing people who are intoxicated from committing crimes with handguns is important, but the infringement on DeRoche’s Second Amendment rights in this case “was not substantially related to that objective.” “The government cannot justify infringing on defendant’s Second Amendment right to possess a handgun in his home simply because defendant was intoxicated in the general vicinity of the firearm,” the panel said.  http://www.freep.com/article/20130130/NEWS15/130130076/It-s-not-illegal-drunk-your-home-gun-Michigan-appeals-court-rules?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
I agree with the ruling (as an aside, I don't own a gun, never have and only shot a rifle when in basic training in the Air Force and only hit the target 5 times out of 200 shots)
Just because a guy is drunk on his property and has a gun doesn't mean he forfeits his right to own a gun, though the anti-gun nuts would use this as an excuse to confiscate a person's guns.  The guy didn't break any laws, according to the court, so there is no case.
Good for the court and good for common sense, but stupid to be drunk around guns.