The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review whether a federal law that bars marijuana users and other drug consumers from buying or possessing firearms is unconstitutional.
Today, justices granted cert in U.S. v. Hemani, a case that centers on Section 922(g)(3) of federal law. The statute prohibits anyone “who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from owning or purchasing a firearm. The decision follows years of conflicting rulings from lower courts on whether the ban is consistent with the Second Amendment.
The case involves Ali Daniel Hemani, whose attorneys persuaded the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out his felony charge after it ruled the law “unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s expanded gun rights.” The appellate court, however, noted that the restriction could still be applied against people found to be high while armed.
Attorneys for Hemani contend that the law’s sweeping language could expose millions of Americans to potential charges, pointing to federal health surveys indicating that roughly one in five adults has tried marijuana.
In a June filing, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer said Section 922(g)(3) “targets a category of persons who pose a clear danger of misusing firearms: habitual users of unlawful drugs.” He also stressed that the law only temporarily bars possession and that anyone who stops using drugs may once again own firearms.
In seeking Supreme Court review, the Justice Department emphasized that the issue has created a “multi-sided and growing circuit conflict.” DOJ also pointed to the background of the Hemani defendant, who has a history of cocaine use, prior drug sales, and dual U.S.–Pakistani citizenship with alleged ties to Iranian entities
While the court declined on Monday to take up U.S. v. Cooper, it left pending decisions in two other cases: U.S. v. Daniels and U.S. v. Sam. The outcome of Hemani could ultimately determine the fate of those challenges.
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