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1 1 (November 24, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/govetee0001 and id is 1 raw text is: To Possess or Not to Possess: The Second Amendment and Unlawful Users of Controlled Substances Updated November 24, 2025 The Gun Control Act of 1968 bars nine categories of individuals from possessing firearms or ammunition. One such prohibition, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), forbids any person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Before 2024, federal circuit courts had routinely upheld Section 922(g)(3) against Second Amendment challenges, but in 2024 and 2025 the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eighth Circuits (the Fifth and Eighth Circuits, respectively) issued a series of rulings-Daniels v. United States, Hemani v. United States, Sam v. United States, Cooper v. United States, and Baxter v. United States-each providing that Section 922(g)(3) violates, or could violate, the Second Amendment insofar as the statute was applied to the specific defendants. The United States asked the Supreme Court to review these decisions (see Daniels, Hemani, Sam, Cooper, and Baxter). In response, the Court agreed to hear Hemani, rejected the petitions in Cooper and Baxter, and has taken no action as to the petitions in Daniels and Sam; these latter two petitions may be held pending the Court's disposition of the case in Hemani. This Sidebar offers an overview of these constitutional challenges to Section 922(g)(3) as background to the Court's consideration of the Hemani case. This Sidebar begins with a brief sketch of modem Supreme Court cases on the Second Amendment that form the general framework for an analysis of the constitutionality of Section 922(g)(3). The Sidebar then discusses the aforementioned five opinions addressing the constitutionality of Section 922(g)(3). This summary does not include other Section 922(g)(3) cases that were not appealed to the Supreme Court by the government. The Sidebar closes with considerations for Congress. Survey of Modern Second Amendment Jurisprudence Text and Early Development of Second Amendment Doctrine The Second Amendment, ratified in 1791, provides, A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. For more Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11104 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress