It's been more than 24 hours since the Supreme Court's orders list was released and we learned that the justices had granted cert to U.S. v. Hemani, but so far not a single gun control organization has even acknowledged that move, much less weighed in on whether or not the court should uphold in its entirety the federal statute barring "unlawful" users of drugs from possessing firearms.
Maybe that shouldn't be a surprise, given that Everytown for Gun Safety, Giffords, and Brady didn't have anything to say when Hunter Biden was charged and convicted for violating that same law, or when his dad pardoned him shortly before leaving office. As Politico reported last June, shortly after Biden was convicted.
Not a single one commented on the case or the broader legal question, underscoring how uncomfortable the politics around the case are for the gun control groups pushing hard for Biden’s reelection.
“That’s all about politics,” said a gun violence prevention activist, granted anonymity due to the political sensitivities. “This is just: ‘No, we’re not going to get in the middle of this shitstorm. Nothing good can come of it.’”
I can understand why the gun control lobby didn't want to talk about the president's son facing charges for possessing firearms while regularly using crack, but you'd expect that the Trump administration defending any federal gun control law would be cause for celebration among anti-gunners.
Instead, it's been radio silence. One of the few anti-gun activists who's offered any commentary is David Hogg, who quickly deleted a post on X about the case shortly after he published it.
In the post, Hogg shared an Associated Press article headlined "Supreme Court will consider whether people who regularly smoke pot can legally own guns", and snarked that "it would be the plot twist of the century if the Trump administration ended up enforcing a law that could result in 47% of American guns being taken away because they've used weed."
Now, I didn't go to Harvard (or any other Ivy League institution), but last time I checked guns don't "use weed." Presumably Hogg meant 47% of American gun owners could have their firearms taken away because they've used weed, but I have no idea where he would have come up with that statistic. The CDC says about 52.5 million Americans, or 19% of the population, say that used cannabis at least once in 2021; the latest year for which data is available.
I'm sure that some of those individuals own firearms, but that number is nowhere near 100%.
Hogg's comment is idiotic on multiple levels, which is par for the course. In addition to the errors already noted, Hogg is apparently under the impression that the Trump administration is not enforcing Section 922(g)(3), which is hardly the case. The DOJ is still actively prosecuting "unlawful" users of drugs and defending convictions after individuals have been convicted. One of the cases the Supreme Court rejected on Monday was U.S. v. Cooper, where an Iowa man saw his charges dropped after a district court was directed by the Eighth Circuit to decide if he posed a danger to himself or others because of his marijuana use and gun possession. Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed a cert petition with SCOTUS asking them to accept the case, but to keep it in a holding pattern until after the justices had decided the Hemani case.
The justices declined to do so, meaning Mr. Cooper is no longer facing the prospect of federal prison for owning guns and using marijuana, but despite what Hogg seemed to assert in his now-deleted post, that wasn't the outcome the Trump administration was seeking.
So why aren't the gun control groups talking about Hemani? They had no issue discussing the Rahimi case after the Supreme Court announced it would consider whether Zackey Rahimi should have been allowed to possess firearms after a domestic violence restraining order was issued. They were quick to defend New York's "may issue" carry laws when SCOTUS granted cert to Bruen.
Interestingly, these same groups were also mostly mum about the first 2A case granted cert this term; Wolford v. Lopez, which is a challenge to Hawaii's rule prohibiting concealed carry on all private property unless property owners explicitly allow it.
Besides a tweet from MFOL and this press release from Everytown Law (and not their main website), gun control groups haven't talked about this at all today. Very interesting since they all supported laws like these and would talk about how great they are https://t.co/uREjAutTUQ
— Rob Romano (@2Aupdates) October 3, 2025
I'm not sure what explains the reluctance to talk about Wolford, but I suspect the main reason for keeping their collective mouths shut about Hemani is that the left is generally more supportive of legalizing marijuana than the right, and the gun control lobby is far more popular in liberal circles than conservative ones. A full-throated defense of 922(g)(3) would likely alienate many allies of Everytown, Giffofrds, and Brady, who don't like the idea of throwing a gun owner in federal prison for several years just because they eat marijuana gummies to alleviate the effects of chemotherapy... or even use marijuana recreationally.
In fact, I wouldn't be shocked to see the legal arms of Everytown and Giffords submit amicus briefs to the Court that argue in favor of the Eighth Circuit's view that there needs to be a finding of dangerousness before gun-owning drug users can be convicted under 922(g)(3), instead of enforcing the law as written or adopting the Fifth Circuit's position that the statute is unconstitutional in the vast majority of circumstances. If that does happen, if won't be because of any newfound respect for the Second Amendment, though. It will be to stay in the good graces of the progressives who are the lifeblood of the gun control lobby.
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