By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court sided on Thursday with a gun-rights challenge to a federal law that bars drug users from owning firearms in the latest test of the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms."
The justices, in 9-0 ruling, upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss an illegal gun possession charge brought under the law at issue against Ali Hemani, an American-Pakistani dual citizen and resident of Texas who told authorities
he was a regular marijuana user.
A 1968 federal law called the Gun Control Act makes possession of a firearm illegal for anyone who "is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance."
That gun restriction led to a 2024 conviction of Hunter Biden, who later that year received a pardon from his father, then-President Joe Biden. Prosecutors had accused the president's son of lying about his use of narcotics in 2018 when he purchased a Colt Cobra handgun.
Hemani was charged in 2023 following an FBI raid of the home he shared with his parents in Denton County in which agents found a Glock 9mm pistol, marijuana and cocaine. Hemani said he used marijuana about every other day, though authorities did not accuse him of being intoxicated at the time of the search.
The Justice Department said in court papers that Hemani's actions had drawn FBI attention, citing his travel to Iran and his brother's attendance at an Iranian university. But Hemani's indictment contained only the single charge under the Gun Control Act.
Illegal drugs are grouped by tiers, known as "schedules," under another law called the U.S. Controlled Substances Act.
Marijuana had long been listed as a Schedule I substance alongside heroin, ecstasy and peyote, implying it had high potential for abuse and no medical value. But after Trump signed an executive order concerning marijuana, the Justice Department in April loosened restrictions on some marijuana products and reclassified the drug as less dangerous.
Lawyers for the Justice Department told the Supreme Court that Hemani's marijuana should be treated as a Schedule I controlled substance, as it was at the time of his illegal gun possession offense. But they suggested that the court could create a carve-out from the gun restriction for marijuana products that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration or covered by a state medical marijuana license.
Hemani moved to dismiss his charge, arguing it violated his Second Amendment rights. He also cited the stringent test the Supreme Court set in a 2022 decision requiring that gun laws be "consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation" in order to comport with the Second Amendment.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2025 dismissed the illegal gun possession charge, ruling that the firearm ban cannot be applied to people unless they are under the influence of drugs while in possession of a gun.
On appeal, Trump's Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to adopt a rule that would allow illegal gun possession charges to be brought against "habitual users" of unlawful drugs. The administration said the restriction was historically similar to laws from the 1800s allowing authorities to temporarily disarm "habitual drunkards."
Lawyers for Hemani, who is backed by the ACLU, argued that regular marijuana users are not comparable to "habitual drunkards" referenced in such laws.
In a nation deeply divided over how to address persistent firearms violence including frequent mass shootings, the Supreme Court often has taken an expansive view of Second Amendment protections including in major rulings in 2008, 2010 and 2022.
The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, in January heard arguments in another important Second Amendment case. The court's conservative justices signaled skepticism toward a Hawaii law that restricts the carrying of handguns on private property open to the public, like most businesses, without the owner's permission. A ruling is expected by the end of June.
(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)
