The US Supreme Court will consider whether a law banning habitual drug users from owning guns violates the Constitution.
The Trump administration sought the review after a lower federal court in Texas ruled in favor of a man charged under the law but said it violated his constitutional right to own a firearm.
The government is seeking to preserve the law and reinstate the charges, arguing that it is necessary to prevent people who pose a “particular danger to society” from owning guns.
Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, was prosecuted and convicted of violating the same law in 2024. Later his father pardoned him.
The case involves a man named Ali Khemani, an alleged regular marijuana user who was charged by federal authorities after they found his gun during a raid at his Texas home.
He was prosecuted under a law that prohibits anyone who is “the unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing a gun.
Mr. Khemani's lawyers successfully argued before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that the charge should be dismissed on the grounds that it violated his Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Republicans generally favor expanding gun rights and access, and the Trump administration generally supports Second Amendment rights.
However, the administration asked the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court's decision.
“Regular illegal drug users who own firearms pose a unique danger to society, especially because they pose a serious risk of armed and hostile confrontations with police officers while intoxicated,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in his motion to the court.
The government argues that the statue does not unfairly violate Americans' Second Amendment rights because the restriction is narrowly targeted at ordinary users, who could regain access to guns in the future if they stop using illegal substances.
Mr Khemani's legal team argued that the law was too broad and could unfairly impact people who use marijuana.
Although several states have legalized or decriminalized cannabis use, it remains illegal under federal law.
The current conservative majority on the US Supreme Court tends to support gun rights, although there have been exceptions.
The court expanded gun rights in a 2022 ruling that emphasized the historical basis of the Second Amendment. However, in 2024, the court upheld the ban on domestic violence survivors from owning firearms.
