Why the White House is behind a rare Supreme Court push to limit gun ownership

As an increasing number of states provide Americans access to legal cannabis, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to debate one of the less-obvious but hugely impactful implications of this country’s growing legalization movement: gun rights. On Monday, the high court announced it would hear arguments in U.S. v. Ali Danial Hemani. This narcotics-related case could upend firearm access for millions at the request of the Trump administration. It’s a rare instance of this White House seeking to limit, rather than expand, gun ownership. With arguments scheduled for the coming year and a ruling expected in June, the case could be a major milestone for two of America’s most controversial pastimes.

‘Particularly notable’ intervention from the DOJ

At its core, U.S. v. Ali Danial Hemani questions whether Hemani, a dual U.S.-Pakistani citizen, can be charged with a firearms-related felony following an FBI investigation in which he “allegedly had a gun in his home” and “acknowledged being a regular pot user,” said The Associated Press. Although a lower court reversed Hemani’s felony charge after a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun ownership rights, the Trump administration petitioned the high court to take up the case. State legislatures have long “prohibited the possession of arms by drug users and addicts” — that is, people with a history of narcotics use — and “not just by persons under the influence of drugs” at the time of the incident, the Justice Department said in its court filing.

Given how often this White House has “sided with gun rights advocates in other cases,” the fact that the administration is in this instance pushing to enforce tightened restrictions on gun owners is “particularly notable,” said USA Today. Despite “broadly supporting gun rights,” the Trump administration sees limiting gun ownership in line with “past historical rules that put restrictions on ‘habitual drunkards,’” said Forbes. But by coming down in favor of tightening rules for gun ownership, the White House’s stance is likely to “pit the Justice Department against some of President Donald Trump’s usual allies on culture-war issues,” said Bloomberg Law.

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‘Millions’ risk ‘technical violations’

The debate over gun ownership and narcotics use comes amid the rise in state-specific legalized cannabis, which remains a federally controlled substance. Since it was established in 1998, the federal gun background check system’s narcotics questions have “stopped more gun sales than any requirement other than the ban on felons and fugitives owning weapons,” said USA Today. But lawyers for Hemani say the law “makes no sense” in a country where an estimated “19% of Americans have used marijuana and about 32% own a firearm.”

The “broadly written law” being debated by the court “puts millions of people at risk of technical violations,” given the prevalence of cannabis use and legalization in nearly half the states, said the AP. “While the number of Americans who use marijuana legally under state law and possess a firearm is unknown, there is certainly a significant overlap between the two,” Hemani’s attorneys said in a filing.