WASHINGTON –The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Texas man who challenged a federal law that bars certain drug users from having firearms.
In a unanimous decision in the case U.S. v. Hemani, the justices found that Ali Hemani’s prosecution for having a firearm while he was an unlawful drug user is inconsistent the Second Amendment. Hemani allegedly was only an occasional user of marijuana when the FBI found a handgun at his Texas home in 2022.
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The ruling from the Supreme Court is narrow, since the justices did not strike down the law at the center of the case in its entirety. Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the majority opinion for the court.
The law forbids an unlawful drug user from possessing firearms, and violators face up to 15 years in prison. The Justice Department estimates roughly 300 people are charged with the offense each year.
Perhaps the most high-profile person convicted under the law was Hunter Biden, former President Joe Biden’s son, though he was pardoned by his father in December 2024.
The law at the center of the case was the latest to face Supreme Court scrutiny in the wake of its landmark 2022 decision that recognized the right to carry a firearm outside the home. In that decision, the high court laid out a new test for courts to apply when considering the constitutionality of a gun law. The framework requires the government to show that a restriction is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation.
In the wake of that ruling, the Supreme Court upheld in 2024 a federal law barring people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from having guns. The justices are also considering a challenge to a Hawaii law that prohibits people with concealed carry permits from bringing their guns onto private property open to the public without permission.
The government’s case against Hemani focused solely on his marijuana use, which his lawyers said did not make him dangerous. Forty states have legalized marijuana use to some degree in recent years, adding a wrinkle to the legal battle. While it remains illegal at the federal level, President Trump signed an executive order in December to reschedule marijuana to a lower drug classification.
While he has also taken steps to bolster Second Amendment rights, Mr. Trump’s administration also defended the ban on possession by drug users before the Supreme Court and urged it to uphold the restriction.
In filings with the high court, the Justice Department said the Second Amendment allows Congress to restrict gun possession by habitual drug users. Backing the Trump administration were gun violence prevention groups like the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
But on the other side, the American Civil Liberties Union signed on as co-counsel to represent Hemani. Also backing him were gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association.
