Supreme Court sides with a Texas man who says it's not a crime for cannabis users to have guns

[00:00:00]US Supreme Court sides with a Texas man who says it's not a crime for cannabis users to have guns. From the Pepper Radio newsroom, we have this news from Washington.

[00:00:11]The Supreme Court sided Thursday with a Texas cannabis user who wants to legally own a gun. The latest in line line of firearms cases from a court that is expanding gun rights in a unanimous decision. The justices ruled in favor of Ali Daniel Himani who argued that a law banning guns from anyone who uses drugs illegally violates the Second Amendment.

[00:00:40]Himani was in charged with any other crimes or accused of using the weapon under the influence.

[00:00:46]Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion saying the ruling limits but doesn't end the government's power to take guns from drug users.

[00:00:55]The decision is a loss for President Donald Trump's Republican administration which had defended the 1968 law despite arguing against other gun restrictions.

[00:01:06]The measure was also used in the case against Hunter Biden who was convicted in Wilmington, Delaware of buying a gun while addicted to cocaine in 2018. He was later pardoned by his father, then President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Someone addicted to a drug could still be prosecuted after Thursday's decision, Gorsuch wrote. We do not address efforts to ban addicts or those presently intoxicated from possessing a firearm, he wrote. Prosecutors could still charge a cannabis user if they had evidence to prove the person was dangerous.

[00:01:45]It's the latest in a series of cases particularly firearm cases to reach the Supreme Court since a landmark ruling expanding gun rights in 2022 led to a wave of challenges around the country.

[00:01:58]That's what we know for now. From the Pepper Dio newsroom, I'm David Moore.