The US Supreme Court on Monday decided to take up a major Second Amendment case that will decide whether it is constitutional to prohibit users of illegal drugs from owning firearms.
At issue is a federal law that bars anyone who is “an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing a gun.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the law violates the Second Amendment in most cases, a decision the Biden administration has asked the high court to overturn.
The justices added United States v. Hemani to their docket for the 2025–26 term, signaling another test of how far the Court’s conservative majority is willing to extend gun rights under its recent rulings in Heller and Bruen.
The case stems from a search of the Texas home of Ali Danial Hemani, where FBI agents found a Glock 9 mm pistol, 60 grams of marijuana, and 4.7 grams of cocaine. Prosecutors charged Hemani under the federal drug-user gun ban, but a district judge dismissed the case, citing a 2023 Fifth Circuit decision that struck down a similar conviction. The appellate court upheld that dismissal, setting up the current appeal.
In its petition to the Supreme Court, the Justice Department argued that the law represents one of the “narrow circumstances” in which the government can justifiably limit the right to bear arms. Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the restriction is “temporary” and rooted in historical analogues, such as colonial-era laws disarming habitual drunkards. He also warned that armed, intoxicated individuals “pose a grave risk of armed, hostile encounters with police officers while impaired.”
The case will clarify how far historical tradition can be stretched to justify modern gun regulations and whether Congress can continue to disqualify entire categories of people, such as drug users, from gun ownership, particularly since drug laws have changed through time.
A ruling is expected by late June 2026.
