A federal appeals court previously held that the Second Amendment barred Congress from banning gun use by drug users.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 20 agreed to consider whether a federal law barring illegal drug users from possessing firearms is constitutional.
The justices granted the petition in United States v. Hemani without comment in an unsigned order. No justices dissented.
The respondent, Ali Danial Hemani, is a dual citizen of the United States and Pakistan, according to the government’s petition.
The petition described Hemani as “a drug dealer who uses illegal drugs.” The FBI obtained a search warrant to search his home and found a Glock 9mm pistol, 60 grams of marijuana, and 4.7 grams of cocaine.
At one point in the case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the Second Amendment prevents Congress from restricting the possession of firearms by habitual users of illegal drugs.
“The court’s decision invalidates an important federal statute in the vast majority of its applications and exacerbates a multi-sided circuit conflict. This Court should grant the petition for a writ of certiorari and reverse,” the petition said.
The Fifth Circuit threw out the felony conviction against Hemani, but held that the ban could still apply to people accused of being intoxicated by drugs and armed at the same time.
The Trump administration is generally supportive of Second Amendment rights but argues that the ban applying to drug users is a reasonable restriction.
Attorneys for Hemani say the ban puts millions of Americans at risk because one-fifth of Americans have tried marijuana, according to government data. Around half of U.S. states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, but it remains illegal under federal law.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
