(AFP) – The US Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a challenge to a federal law prohibiting abusers of illegal drugs from owning firearms. The conservative-dominated court will decide whether the law violates the Second Amendment, which protects the constitutional right of Americans to keep and bear arms. The statute was used to convict Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, on gun charges last year before he was pardoned by the then-president. It prohibits the possession of firearms by a person who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.”
The case before the Supreme Court involves Ali Danial Hemani, an alleged habitual marijuana user indicted for being unlawfully in possession of a Glock pistol. An appeals court ruled that barring Hemani, a dual US-Pakistani national, from owning a gun violated his Second Amendment rights. Republican President Donald Trump’s Justice Department, which generally backs expansive gun rights, is challenging that decision.
There are “narrow circumstances in which the government may justifiably burden” Second Amendment rights, it said in a filing with the Supreme Court. “Habitual illegal drug users with firearms present unique dangers to society,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote. “By disqualifying only habitual users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms, the statute imposes a limited, inherently temporary restriction,” Sauer said. “The individual can remove (the restriction) at any time simply by ceasing his unlawful drug use,” he added.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, tends to rule in favor of gun owners. But it has recently upheld regulation of “ghost guns” — firearms sold in easy-to-assemble kits — and restricted gun access for persons subject to domestic violence restraining orders. The Hemani case is one of two gun rights cases the court has agreed to hear this term. The other involves a Hawaii law restricting where holders of concealed carry permits can bring their firearms.
© 2024 AFP
