Supreme Court to Rule on Constitutionality of Drug-User Gun Ban

The US Supreme Court agreed to rule on the constitutionality of the federal law that bans firearm possession by drug users and addicts, in a fresh test of the Second Amendment’s gun-rights protections.

Accepting a Trump administration appeal, the justices said they will review a federal appeals court’s conclusion that the gun ban can’t be applied to people unless they are using illegal substances at the time they are found in possession of a firearm. Courts around the country are divided on the issue.

The case puts the Trump administration in the position of arguing against gun rights. It’s likely to pit the Justice Department against some of President Donald Trump’s usual allies on culture-war issues.

More than 200,000 people have been denied gun permits since 1998 because of drug use, according to federal statistics. A ruling against the federal law could also affect similar laws in as many as 32 states and territories.

The Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority has expanded the right to bear arms in recent years but left in place some limits as having a sufficient historical pedigree.

The court last year upheld a federal law disarming people who are under domestic-violence restraining orders. Chief Justice John Roberts said in that ruling that the government can ban gun possession by “categories of persons thought by a legislature to present a special danger of misuse.”

The latest case involves the same provision used to convict Hunter Biden, the former president’s son. The disputed law bars gun possession by anyone who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.”

The clash centers on Ali Danial Hemani, a Texas man seeking to dismiss a one-count indictment for illegal gun possession after the FBI allegedly found a pistol, 60 grams of marijuana, and 4.7 grams of cocaine in a search of his home. Prosecutors say they have evidence that Hemani is a drug dealer who also uses illegal substances.

The Justice Department also alleges in court papers that Hemani has ties to an Iranian terrorist organization, though those accusations aren’t part of the indictment or the Supreme Court case.

The court is scheduled to rule by July in the case, United States v. Hemani, 24-1234.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Elizabeth Wasserman at ewasserman2@bloomberg.net

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