The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up whether a federal crime that bans gun possession for drug users is constitutional.
At the Trump administration’s urging, the justices will wade into this issue this term, making it the latest front in the battle over the Second Amendment. A decision is expected by next summer.
“This is the archetypal case for this Court’s review,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court filings.
Federal law prohibits anyone “who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing a firearm. Violations carry up to 10 years in prison.
The charge is prosecuted regularly. U.S. Circuit Judge Stephen Higginson, an appointee of former President Obama, recently noted in an opinion that judges are adjudicating the cases “daily across the country.”
A jury convicted Hunter Biden on the charge last year for possessing a Colt Cobra revolver in 2018 while being addicted to crack cocaine. He had argued it violated the Second Amendment until his father, then-President Biden, pardoned him.
The Supreme Court’s announcement comes after it ran out of funding over the weekend because of the government shutdown. The court building is now closed to the public, but the justices’ work on pending cases is proceeding as normal.
The high court’s decision stands to impact the future of the federal crime and similar state-level measures the Justice Department says have been passed in more than 30 states.
Lower judges have split on the federal crime’s constitutionality in the wake of the Supreme Court’s expansion of gun rights in 2022.
The expansion requires gun control measures to be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Some judges have since ruled the crime is unconstitutional in at least some applications.
The case marks the justices’ latest opportunity to provide more guidance on the bounds of its Second Amendment test.
Last year, the court ruled a neighboring federal provision that criminalizes gun possession for people under domestic violence restraining orders could survive.
And the new case adds to one already pending this term, which concerns the constitutionality of Hawaii’s law banning concealed carry on private property without the owner’s express permission.
Supreme Court to decide if drug users can carry guns IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2025-10-20 14:49:54 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
