Supreme Court Narrows Gun Rules in Hawaii, Drug-User Cases

Americans who carry handguns or use marijuana now face fewer state and federal barriers after the Supreme Court issued two rulings last week that further limited gun restrictions. The decisions arrive amid ongoing national debate over firearms violence and mass shootings, leaving legislatures with narrower options for new controls.

In a 6-3 decision, the justices struck down a Hawaii law that required property owners to grant permission before a handgun could be carried onto private property open to the public. The court applied the historical-tradition test first set out in the 2022 Bruen decision. A separate unanimous ruling narrowed a federal statute that had barred firearm possession by certain drug users, including many marijuana consumers. Both holdings were issued as the term neared its end.

Pepperdine law professor Jacob Charles described the pair of cases as confirming the court's "extreme skepticism about all manner of gun regulations." The Bruen test now requires gun laws to match traditions from the founding era rather than simply serve a public-safety goal. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented in the Hawaii case, arguing the majority had turned the test into a barrier that privileges firearm access.

Gun-rights advocates immediately urged the court to accept additional cases next term, including challenges to assault-weapon and magazine restrictions. Three conservative justices had already signaled interest in those issues after similar appeals were declined last year. Experts noted that only one post-Bruen restriction, the domestic-violence restraining-order ban upheld in United States v. Rahimi, has survived the new standard.

No reporting from the three outlets addressed any ruling on federal funding for Planned Parenthood. That element of the assigned topic could not be independently verified.