SCOTUS Hears Case Today That Could Undo Drug-Use Gun Ban Nationwide

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today in United States v. Hemani, a case that could upend how federal law treats gun ownership by people who use marijuana or other illegal drugs. According to Reuters and AP News, the issue is whether a federal statute — 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) — that bars “unlawful users” of controlled substances from possessing firearms violates the Second Amendment.

This law has wide reach because it doesn’t require users to be impaired at the time they possess a gun. Lower courts — including the Fifth Circuit — have ruled the statute unconstitutional when applied to regular cannabis users.

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But the Justice Department and gun-control organizations argue the ban is rooted in public-safety tradition. The case has drawn unusual alliances, with both civil liberties groups and gun rights advocates challenging the law’s clarity.

Justices’ questions during arguments will offer early clues, but a final ruling won’t come until later this term.

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