United States v. Hemani

Questions presented

SCOTUS records, cert granted 20 Oct 2025

Whether 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3), the federal statute that prohibits the possession of firearms by a person who "is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance," violates the Second Amendment as applied to respondent.

Opinion summary

Etalia.ai summary of the majority opinion

The Court held that the government's prosecution of Ali Hemani under 18 U. S. C. § 922(g)(3) was inconsistent with the Second Amendment. Writing for the Court, Justice Gorsuch said the statute burdens conduct the Amendment presumptively protects, so the government had to show it fits the Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. The government relied on historical laws about habitual drunkards, but the Court said those analogies failed because the old laws usually targeted people who were actually incapacitated, aimed at different purposes, and generally involved some process before liberties were lost. The Court also said § 922(g)(3) sweeps more broadly than any historical analogue because it automatically disarms unlawful users without individualized proof of danger or prior process. The Court's decision was narrow and did not decide other firearm bans or prosecutions based on individualized proof of dangerousness.