Second Amendment

Supreme Court Begins Answering Lingering Questions About Constitutional Constraints on Gun Control

After upholding the Second Amendment rights of drug users and carry permit holders, the justices will address the constitutionality of "assault weapon" bans.

Jacob Sullum | 7.8.2026 12:01 AM

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Over the course of 12 days last month, the Supreme Court upheld the gun rights of cannabis consumers, rejected Hawaii's default rule against firearms on private property open to the public, and agreed to address the constitutionality of "assault weapon" bans. That flurry of Second Amendment activity underlines the point that supposedly sensible gun regulations are not necessarily consistent with the right to arms as it was historically understood.

When Congress enacted the Gun Control Act in 1968, legislators took it for granted that an "unlawful user" of marijuana, depressants, stimulants, or narcotics should not be allowed to own a gun. They reaffirmed that judgment in 1986, changing the wording to encompass unlawful users of "any controlled substance."

Although the latter law was dubbed the Firearms Owners' Protection Act, it obviously did not protect gun owners with a taste for politically disfavored intoxicants, or even gun........

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