New Supreme Court Decision

On June 18, 2026, in what is considered a big win for Second Amendment rights, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled (9-0) in United States v. Hemani that the federal government cannot use a federal law to prosecute or disarm individuals solely because they use marijuana, finding the restriction violates the Second Amendment.

The case was centered on a Texas man named Ali Danial Hemani, who had admitted to marijuana use but safely secured his firearm at home without being intoxicated.

Justice Neil Gorsuch applied the historical tradition test, finding that historical analogues used by the government (such as 18th-century restrictions on “habitual drunkards”) were insufficient to justify an outright, modern ban based purely on cannabis consumption.

This ruling means that federal prosecutors can no longer sustain a § 922(g)(3) charge based solely on a defendant’s marijuana use without demonstrating further dangerousness. However, The Court did not rule on the legality of being armed while intoxicated. This is an important legal point which leaves the possibility for the government to regulate firearms for individuals whose specific dangerousness or intoxication can be proven in court.