The government cannot prosecute a man for owning a firearm just because he habitually smoked marijuana, the Supreme Court decided on June 18. The ruling clarifies a section of the Gun Control Act that forbids a person who “is an unlawful user of, or addicted to, any controlled substance” from owning guns.
“The government maintains that it may automatically strip Mr. Hemani of his Second Amendment right to possess a firearm because he uses marijuana a few times a week,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote.
“It makes no difference either if he keeps a firearm only in his home for self-defense, never misuses a gun while intoxicated, and never poses a danger to himself or others as a result of his marijuana use. The only thing the government must show, it says, is that an individual like Mr. Hemani regularly uses any amount of any controlled substance.”…