Overview
- The Court unanimously ruled that applying 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(3) to a regular marijuana user violated the Second Amendment, a decision issued on June 18, 2026.
- The case arose after an FBI search of Ali Danial Hemani’s Texas home found a 9mm pistol and about 60 grams of marijuana, and Hemani told agents he used marijuana “about every other day.”
- Writing for the Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch said the government’s reliance on colonial‑era laws that disarmed “habitual drunkards” did not provide a close enough historical analogue under the post‑Bruen test.
- The opinion is narrow: it bars categorical disarmament of ordinary marijuana users but expressly leaves open whether Congress or courts may bar addicts, people who are actively intoxicated, or individuals shown by individualized proof to be dangerous.
- Practically, the ruling will limit prosecutors’ ability to pursue gun charges based solely on marijuana use, could prompt new legislation or targeted rules from Congress, and is likely to produce further litigation testing narrower ways to disarm dangerous persons.