{"id":50,"date":"2025-10-20T16:48:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T16:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/?p=50"},"modified":"2025-10-20T16:48:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T16:48:23","slug":"us-supreme-court-to-consider-law-barring-illegal-drug-users-from-owning-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/2025\/10\/20\/us-supreme-court-to-consider-law-barring-illegal-drug-users-from-owning-guns\/","title":{"rendered":"US Supreme Court To Consider Law Barring Illegal Drug Users From Owning Guns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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US Supreme Court To Consider Law Barring Illegal Drug Users From Owning Guns<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The US Supreme Court will decide whether a provision that prohibits regular illegal drug users from owning firearms is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

The review was ordered by the Trump<\/a> administration following a Texas lower federal court’s decision in favour of a man who was charged under the act but claimed it infringed upon his constitutional right to bear arms.<\/p>\n

The government is attempting to uphold the law and reinstate the charge, claiming that it is essential to bar those who represent “unique dangers to society” from possessing firearms.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, was found guilty of breaking the same legislation. He was later pardoned by his father.<\/p>\n

In this case, federal officials prosecuted Ali Hemani, a man who allegedly often used marijuana, after discovering his weapon during a Texas home invasion.<\/p>\n

He was prosecuted under a law that prohibits anyone who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled sub-stance” from having a gun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard a successful argument from Mr. Hemani’s lawyers that the prosecution should be dismissed because it infringed upon his Second Amendment right to possess arms.<\/p>\n

Second Amendment rights are generally supported by the Trump administration, although Republicans generally favor increased gun rights and access.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the administration has requested that the Supreme Court reverse the decision of the lower court.<\/p>\n

“Habitual illegal drug users with firearms present unique dangers to society -especially because they pose a grave risk of armed, hostile encounters with police officers while impaired,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in his petition to the court.<\/p>\n

The government contends that because the prohibition is limited to frequent users who may eventually regain access to firearms if they cease using illegal substances, the legislation does not unjustly violate Americans’ Second Amendment rights.<\/p>\n

Mr Hemani’s legal team argued that the law was too broad and could unfairly impact people who use marijuana.<\/p>\n

While several states have legalised or decriminalised cannabis use, it remains illegal under federal law.<\/p>\n

The current conservative majority of the US Supreme Court<\/a> has tended to support gun rights, though there have been exceptions.<\/p>\n

The court expanded gun rights in a 2022 ruling that underscored the historical basis for the Second Amendment. However, in 2024, the court upheld a ban on individuals with domestic violence restraining orders from having firearms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US Supreme Court To Consider Law Barring Illegal Drug Users From Owning Guns The US Supreme Court will decide whether a provision that prohibits regular illegal drug users from owning firearms is unconstitutional. The review was ordered by the Trump administration following a Texas lower federal court’s decision in favour of a man who was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52,"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions\/52"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/example.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}