The US Supreme Court rules unanimously that the federal government cannot categorically bar marijuana users from possessing firearms. The decision reverses application of a decades-old law that treats “unlawful users” of marijuana as prohibited from owning or possessing guns. Writing for the Court, the justices determine that marijuana use alone, without additional findings tied to the constitutional framework for gun restrictions, is not enough to sustain a blanket prohibition under the Second Amendment.
Multiple outlets describe the ruling as narrow, emphasizing that it does not broadly eliminate all limits on gun possession by people with drug-related issues. The Christian Science Monitor and other reports frame the decision as another example of the Court applying its “history and tradition” approach to evaluating gun regulations, assessing whether modern restrictions align with historical analogues.
Reason and Bloomberg also note that the Court’s opinion is accompanied by concurring views, which elaborate on aspects of the reasoning. Overall, the ruling narrows how the government may enforce the federal prohibition against marijuana users and underscores constitutional limits on categorical bans.
