Supreme Court Hears Gun Ban Case for Drug Users

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Monday in Washington, D.C., in a case challenging a federal law that prohibits people who use controlled substances, including marijuana, from possessing firearms, with several justices expressing skepticism about the statute's constitutionality under the Second Amendment.

The case, United States v. Hemani, involves Ali Danial Hemani, a Texas resident charged with violating the Gun Control Act of 1968 after federal agents discovered a pistol, marijuana, and cocaine during a 2022 search of his home. Hemani told investigators he used marijuana approximately every other day. A federal district court dismissed the charge, citing his Second Amendment rights, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld that ruling, finding the law unconstitutional as applied to someone who used drugs regularly but was not intoxicated while possessing the gun. The Trump administration appealed to the high court, seeking to reinstate the provision.

Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris represented the government, arguing that the law fits within historical traditions of disarming individuals who pose a danger, such as early American...