Supreme Court narrows ban on gun ownership by drug users
The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on June 18 in favor of Ali Danial Hemani, a Texas marijuana user who challenged a 1968 federal law barring illegal drug users from owning firearms, Al Jazeera reported . The decision narrows the statute on Second Amendment grounds without striking it down.
Writing for the court, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that many states have legalized marijuana and the federal government has largely tolerated the shift, leaving the government “awkwardly positioned” in arguing that millions of regular cannabis users are categorically dangerous. The ruling explicitly preserved the government’s power to disarm people who are addicted or “presently intoxicated.”
The practical effect is to protect casual users from prosecution under the provision while leaving its core enforcement tools intact. The case drew an unusual coalition: pro-gun groups and civil-liberties organizations including the ACLU backed Hemani, arguing the law invited arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement, while the Trump administration defended it by analogy to historical bans on “habitual drunkards” carrying firearms.