United States | Guilty as charged

Hunter Biden’s criminal conviction is good for nobody politically

The trial showed the ruin of addiction, and the wheels of justice turning

US President Joe Biden hugs his son Hunter Biden upon arrival at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, on June 11th 2024
Photograph: Getty Images
|CHICAGO

Last year almost 16m guns were sold in the United States. According to a government survey, 16% of adults have used marijuana in the past month. People buying a gun must fill in a seven-page federal form. Question 21f asks: “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana” (or any other illegal drug)? Almost certainly hundreds of thousands of people lie on the form, which is a felony. In a typical year, fewer than 300 are prosecuted.

Explore more

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Guilty as charged”

From the June 15th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from United States

Xiaohongshu And TikTok Logos

A protest against America’s TikTok ban is mired in contradiction

Another Chinese app is not the alternative some young Americans think it is

Joe Biden drives a machine that's rolling out a carpet of the US flag for Donald Trump to walk on

How Joe Biden wound up serving Donald Trump

In some ways, his administration will look less like an interregnum than like MAGA-lite


Kids skate at the Venice Skatepark in LA, which is covered in ashes as smoke rises from the Palisades Fire

How bad will the smoke be for Angelenos’ health?

Expect more sickness and disrupted schooling


Should you have to prove your age before watching porn?

America’s Supreme Court weighs a Texan law aimed at protecting kids

Tulsi Gabbard, Sean Penn and the hunt for an American hostage

A controversial trip to Syria in 2017 produced a possible sighting of Austin Tice, an imprisoned journalist

How flush Americans feel depends on their views of Donald Trump

Republicans expect a Trumponomics boom, Democrats dread a bust