HALIFAX -- Canada's highest court has ruled that a ban on firearms isn't cruel and unusual punishment for a Nova Scotia pot grower.

The top court has ruled that owning or possessing a firearm is a privilege, not a right, and one that Philip Neil Wiles could legally lose for growing marijuana at his rural home.

"The mandatory prohibition relates to a recognized sentencing goal -- the protection of the public, and in particular, the protection of police officers engaged in the enforcement of drug offences," Justice Louise Charron wrote in a unanimous ruling.

Charron pointed out that if Parliament can require gun owners to be licensed and register their weapons, then it can ban them from owning those weapons when it deems fit.

"Possession and use of firearms is not a right or a freedom guaranteed under the charter, but a privilege."

On April 16, 2001, police arrived at Wiles's home after responding to an accidental 911 call by one of his daughters. They found a marijuana grow operation, seized about $2,000 worth of hydroponic grow equipment, and noted six licensed, properly stored guns in the house that they didn't seize.

Wiles pleaded guilty to two drug-related charges, but the provincial court judge didn't order the firearms ban, ruling that the $3,500 penalty -- the cost of a fine, plus the six weapons he'd have to forfeit -- was too high for the labourer.

But the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal imposed the ban, saying weapons are a big concern for police officers doing drug raids.