Supreme Court to consider drug user gun possession case

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a case regarding whether regular drug users can possess firearms.

The case, United States v. Hemani, challenges whether federal statutes barring a person who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” violates the Second Amendment.

The case centers on a Texas man who was charged with a felony when FBI agents found a pistol, marijuana and cocaine in his home after obtaining a search warrant, a petition to the court read.

The Trump administration petitioned the high court to hear the case after a lower court struck down the law barring people who use drugs such as marijuana from possessing firearms.

The Trump administration argued that regular drug users can simply stop their use to regain access to firearms under the law.

“By disqualifying only habitual users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms, the statute imposes a limited, inherently temporary restriction—one which the individual can remove at any time simply by ceasing his unlawful drug use,” the Trump administration’s petition reads.