scotusblog: The Supreme Court sided 9-0 with Ali Danial Hemani, a Texas resident charged with felony gun possession after acknowledging regular marijuana use. The ruling gives Hemani a win over the federal firearm ban that covers anyone who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.
Hemani was not charged with any other crimes, and he was not accused of using the weapon under the influence. His challenge argued that the federal law barring gun ownership from anyone who uses drugs illegally violates the Second Amendment, and the decision is a loss for the Trump administration.
Hemani and the 1968 law
The case turns on the 1968 Gun Control Act, which makes possession of a firearm illegal for anyone who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance. That same restriction led to Hunter Biden’s 2024 conviction in a separate case, after prosecutors accused him in 2018 of lying about his narcotics use when he bought a Colt Cobra handgun.
Hunter Biden later received a pardon from his father, then-president Joe Biden, in 2024. Hemani’s case now leaves the federal government’s marijuana-related gun ban narrower in practice than the administration had argued when it defended the statute at the Supreme Court.
Trump administration stance
The Trump administration defended the 1968 law even as it argued against other gun restrictions. The court’s unanimous ruling adds to a line of Supreme Court cases that have expanded gun rights, while leaving federal prosecutors with one less path to use against defendants whose marijuana use is legal under state law but illegal under federal law.
For Hemani, the ruling ends the immediate felony gun case that followed his acknowledgement of regular marijuana use. For other defendants facing the same statute, the decision places the government on weaker ground when it relies on drug use alone to support a firearm charge.
