The Justice Department wants to make it clear to the Supreme Court that regular pot smokers and other users of illegal drugs cannot own a gun.
The Supreme Court upholds the requirements for ghost gun serial numbers and background checks
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld Biden administration regulations on near-impossible weapons called Ghost Guns, clearing up the way to buy ongoing serial numbers, background checks and age verification requirements online.
Fox-32 Chicago
WASHINGTON – There is at least one exception to the Trump administration’s aggressive defense of gun rights.
Government lawyers want to make it clear to the Supreme Court that regular pot smokers and other drug users should not be allowed to own firearms.
The appeals court said federal law that criminalizes drug users with guns cannot be used against people who are based solely on past drug use.
The Justice Department will restrict the law to the Supreme Court to block gun use while people are high, while effectively locking up laws to reduce gun violence. They are asking judicialists to overturn the decision of the court of justice.
Trump’s Justice Department is allying to gun owners in other cases
The department’s law defense is particularly noteworthy as the Trump administration stands on its side with gun rights advocates in other cases.
However, regarding the issue of drug use, the government has sued the Supreme Court in four cases, calling for a focus on justice involving double citizens in the US and Pakistani, accused of illegally owning a Glock pistol due to his regular smoking of marijuana.
The FBI was monitoring Ali Danial Hemani due to alleged ties with Iran’s paramilitary revolutionary security forces, which the government designated global terrorist groups. The government also claims that Hemani used promethazine to sell it, He was charged based on marijuana use, but used cocaine for allergies and motion disease, which can increase the height of opioids.
Hemani’s lawyers say the government is trying to “inflam and disparate” Hemani’s character, and when the FBI found Glock 19 in his Texas home, he wasn’t high.
Hemani is accused of violating federal laws that prohibit people who are “illegal users of controlled substances or are addicted to possessing firearms.”
The Court of Appeals has ruled past drug use that is not sufficient to stop gun ownership.
The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said the law cannot be applied to Hamani under the Supreme Court’s Landmark 2022 decision that the gun ban is based on a history “consistent with the gun control tradition.”
History and tradition “supports some limitations of a the current The Court of Appeal “does not support disarming plain people based solely on past material use,” the Court of Appeal said.
The Justice Department said the appeal court had made it wrong.
The laws that existed when the country was established restrict the rights of habitual drinkers.
“And as long as Congress regulates drugs, they are banning weapons not only by people affected by drugs, but also by drug users and addicts,” they wrote.
Laws used in hundreds of prosecutions, including Hunter Biden
The federal government created a background check system for firearms in 1998, so federal restrictions on drug users have stopped selling more guns than any requirement other than a ban on fugitives who own weapons for felonies and fugitives, according to filing.
And it is used in hundreds of prosecutions each year, they said.
(Hunter Biden, who was later forgiven by his father in the last week of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, was convicted in 2024 for violating the law by purchasing a gun despite being known to be a drug addiction.)
Hemani’s lawyers argue that if an estimated 19% of Americans use marijuana and about 32% own firearms, the interpretation of government law is pointless. That means millions of Americans are violating laws that can be placed behind bars for up to 15 years, they said in their filings.
The Court of Appeals correctly applied the Supreme Court’s past decisions and “common sense” to rule that “history and tradition only support a prohibition on carrying firearms while drunk,” Hemai’s lawyers said.
In addition to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, two other courts of appeals have issued rulings restricting the use of federal bans. Both parties ruled that there should be an individualized assessment of the defendant’s drug use to determine whether their rights can be restricted.
Trump Administration promotes programs to restore gun rights
The Justice Department argues that “limit” cases will be better addressed on a case-by-case basis through federal programs reopened by the federal government, where individuals can petition to restore gun rights.
The administration’s championship for that program isn’t too surprised that the Justice Department has a fierce defense of a ban on drug users with guns, said Andrew Willinger, executive director of the Duke Firearms Act and Research Center.
Furthermore, the administration demonstrates a broad desire to crack down on illegal drug use.
“In a sense, when these two areas are in conflict, gun rights and anti-drug policies — it looks like the anti-drug policy will win,” he said.
Willinger said there is a relatively strong chance that the Supreme Court will be involved. This tends to be done by the judiciary when lower courts abolish or limit the application of federal criminal code, particularly when governments ask to intervene.
However, the High Court could also wait to see how other courts of appeals handled similar cases and how well the Justice Department’s program to restore gun rights dealt with these concerns, he said.
The court was able to announce whether the issue would be addressed this fall.
