Supreme Court to hear challenge to law banning guns for drug users

Oct. 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court indicated Monday it will decide if banning drug users from owning guns is unconstitutional.

The case, appealed by the Department of Justice, is about the same law that Hunter Biden, former President Joe Biden's son, was convicted under. Another person convicted under the law, Ali Danial Hemani, successfully appealed his case after he was charged with a felony for having a gun in his home and admitting to law enforcement officials he regularly smoked marijuana.

Now the Department of Justice wants the Supreme Court to decide.

Hemani's lawyers argued that prosecutors hadn't said their client was under the influence when the gun was found. A search warrant of his home found marijuana and cocaine. The appeals court said the law ran afoul of the 2nd Amendment.

Related

• Judge orders retrial or release of convicted murderer of Etan Patz
• Mississippi executes Charles Crawford for 1993 rape, murder
• Supreme Court seems skeptical of key provisions in Voting Rights Act

In its filing, the Department of Justice alleged that Hemani, who is a dual U.S. and Pakistani citizen in Texas, has ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. In 2020, he and his parents allegedly went to Iran to celebrate an Iranian general who was killed in a U.S. drone strike. His mother was shown on video saying that she hoped her sons would be martyrs like the general, Qassem Soleimani.

Hemani's lawyers argued that those accusations aren't relevant to the case.

"The limited allegations set forth in the indictment should be the only facts before the Court," his attorneys wrote.

Hemani's lawyers also said the appeals court decision was correct.

"History and tradition showed laws banning carrying weapons while under the influence of alcohol, but none barred gun possession by regular drinkers," they wrote.

In June 2024, the Supreme Court upheld a law that prevented those under a domestic violence order from having guns.

The court is also hearing a case on the constitutionality of Hawaii's law that bans concealed carry on private property without permission of the owner.