Supreme Court Curbs 1968 Gun Ban for Drug Users in 9-0 Second Amendment Ruling
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 18
Supreme Court Curbs 1968 Gun Ban for Drug Users in 9-0 Second Amendment Ruling
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 18
Summary
Ali Hemani won a unanimous Supreme Court ruling that prosecutors violated the Second Amendment by charging him under a federal law barring unlawful drug users from possessing guns.
Justice Neil Gorsuch said the statute was too broad because Hemani admitted smoking marijuana every other day, but prosecutors never alleged addiction, intoxicated gun use, threats, or any danger to himself or others.
The court rejected the government's comparison to historical limits on "habitual drunkards," finding those laws targeted severely impaired people and could not justify disarming all regular drug users.
Justices Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan agreed only in the judgment, while the opinion stressed the ruling was narrow and left room to disarm addicts, intoxicated people, felons, or drug users shown to be dangerous.
The decision further extends the court's post-2022 Bruen approach requiring modern gun restrictions to match historical tradition, and it undercuts a statute also used in Hunter Biden's prosecution.
How might this Supreme Court ruling affect future gun laws for other groups, like nonviolent felons or people with mental health histories?
Will medical marijuana users finally be able to legally buy guns, or will federal paperwork and state laws keep blocking them?
Supreme Court 2026: Gun Ban for Non-Dangerous Marijuana Users Ruled Unconstitutional in United States v. Hemani
Overview
On June 18, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the federal law banning 'unlawful users' of controlled substances from owning firearms is unconstitutional when applied to non-dangerous marijuana users like Ali Danial Hemani. This decision follows a lower court's similar ruling and highlights how the term 'unlawful user' is vague, especially as marijuana is now legal in many states. The Court found that the widespread legalization of cannabis makes a blanket federal ban hard to justify, marking a significant shift in the balance between gun rights and evolving drug laws.