The Court spent nearly two hours debating the merits of US v. Hemani. They were trying to figure out whether the modern ban on drug users, even just those who smoke weed, is relevantly similar to Founding Era laws related to "habitual drunkards." The back-and-forth seemed to create some interesting splits among the justices and scrambled the Court's usual ideological coalitions.

To analyze the fallout from oral arguments, we have the Independence Institute's David Kopel back on the show. He has been one of the most influential Second Amendment scholars over the past 30 years, being cited in cases from the Supreme Court on down the federal judiciary. He filed a brief with the National Rifle Association arguing that the justices should side with Hemani in his challenge to the ban.

Kopel said he was a bit surprised at how oral arguments seemed to go for Hemani. He had expected greater pushback from more of the justices, especially the liberal bloc. He said the majority of the Court appeared skeptical of the law's constitutionality.

However, he said it is always possible that a justice doesn't vote the way their questions might imply. It's possible the liberals side with the government or Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, who were most skeptical of Hemani, end up going the other way. Still, he concluded that whatever the Court does in the case, it'll likely have a major impact just on the basis of how fresh Second Amendment jurisprudence is at this moment.

Special Guest: David Kopel.

Links:
https://thereload.com/dcs-highest-court-strikes-down-ammo-magazine-ban/
https://thereload.com/virginia-gun-sales-surge-as-democrats-move-dozens-of-new-restrictions/
https://thereload.com/supreme-court-skeptical-of-marijuana-user-gun-ban-in-oral-arguments/
https://thereload.com/analysis-the-path-for-the-government-to-win-scotus-weed-and-guns-case-member-exclusive/
https://thereload.com/analysis-have-gun-rights-advocates-found-a-way-around-the-machinegun-sales-ban-member-exclusive/
https://wvmetronews.com/2026/03/03/machine-gun-legislation-gets-jammed-up-in-west-virginia-senate/
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/05/tony-gonzales-drops-out-republican-primary-texas-23rd-district-congress/

Last week, we had Second Amendment scholar David Kopel on to discuss the big picture of the upcoming Supreme Court term. The week before that, we had gun-rights lawyer Alan Beck on the show to discuss his Supreme Court case, Wolford v. Lopez.  Now, we're looking at the other Second Amendment case with a man who has followed the issue at its center: Reason Magazine's Jacob Sullum.

That issue? Marijuana users possessing firearms.

Sullum explained that the federal ban on drug users owning guns potentially impacts millions of Americans. He noted it is rarely actually enforced, but he said the possibility hangs over people in nearly 40 states. He argued that's why Hemani's case could have huge implications nationwide.

However, he noted Hemani's case is more complicated than a straightforward weed and guns prosecution. Even though the charge is only related to Hemani's marijuana use, Sullum said the government has accused him of much worse--including terror-related crimes. He said the crossover between drugs and guns could scramble the usual dynamics of the Court, but that's no guarantee.

Special Guest: Jacob Sullum.