WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court said Monday it will look into whether people who regularly smoke marijuana can legally own guns. This is the latest case to come to court since his 2022 decision expanding gun rights.
President Donald Trump's administration has asked judges to reopen a case against a Texas man charged with a felony because he allegedly had a gun in his home and admitted to regularly using marijuana. The Ministry of Justice filed an appeal after the lower court largely overturned a law that prohibits people who use any illegal drugs from possessing guns.
Arguments are likely to take place in early 2026, with a decision likely to be made by early summer.
The Republican administration champions Second Amendment rights, but government lawyers argue the ban is a justifiable restriction.
They asked the court to reinstate the case against Ali Danial Khemani. His lawyers were cleared of the criminal charge after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that a blanket ban was unconstitutional under the Supreme Court's expansive view of gun rights. But appellate judges found it could still be used against people charged with being under the influence of alcohol and being armed at the same time.
Khemani's lawyers argue that the broadly written law puts millions of people at risk of technical violations because at least 20% of Americans have tried marijuana, according to government health data. About half the states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, but it is still illegal under federal law.
The Justice Department argues that the law is valid when used against habitual drug users because they pose a serious threat to public safety. The government said the FBI found Khemani's gun and cocaine during a search of his home as they investigated travel and communications allegedly linked to Iran. However, the firearm charge was the only one, and his lawyers said the other charges were unrelated and were only mentioned to make him seem more dangerous.
The case marks another flashpoint in the application of the Supreme Court's new test for gun restrictions. The conservative majority in 2022 found that the Second Amendment generally gives people the right to bear arms in public for self-defense, and any restrictions on firearms must have a strong foundation in the nation's history.
The landmark 2022 ruling led to a string of challenges to gun laws across the country, although judges have since upheld it. other federal law designed to protect victims of domestic violence by prohibiting people under a restraining order from carrying guns.
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