Supreme Court rules government can’t restrict gun rights for casual drug use

The Supreme Court endorsed a marijuana user's challenge to a law that bars people who consume illegal drugs from having firearms, the same law that Hunter Biden was convicted under.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday barred the government from restricting the gun rights of casual drug users in a case involving a Texas man who occasionally consumed marijuana.

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On a 9-0 vote, the court concluded that the government’s invocation of the law fell afoul of the Constitution's Second Amendment when it was used against Ali Danial Hemani.

The law makes it a crime for any person who is “an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” to possess a firearm. It is the same statute that Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, was convicted under in June 2024 before his father pardoned him. Those prosecuted under the law can face up to 15 years in prison and a permanent ban on owning firearms.