GIFFORDS Law Center, Brady statements on United States v. Hemani opinion

WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS Law Center, the legal arm of the national gun violence prevention group GIFFORDS, and Brady: United Against Gun Violence, the nation’s oldest gun violence prevention organization, released the following statements on the United States Supreme Court decision in United States v. Hemani. The individual challenging the law argued that the government violated the Second Amendment when it prosecuted him for using marijuana regularly while possessing a firearm. GIFFORDS Law Center and Brady filed a joint amicus brief before the court. 

“Since our nation’s founding, commonsense restrictions for owning firearms have been a part of our laws. Today’s opinion continues to allow the government to enact and enforce reasonable categorical prohibitions on firearms ownership. Clear restrictions are critical for our background check system to be successful. GIFFORDS will continue to ensure commonsense restrictions are in place to keep Americans safe,” said Leigh Rome, GIFFORDS Law Center, Senior Litigation Attorney. 

“For nearly 250 years, our country has allowed legislatures to exercise their power to protect public safety by restricting certain categories of people from accessing firearms. Courts have routinely upheld these restrictions, recognizing that the Second Amendment is not absolute and that common-sense prohibitions protect Americans’ freedom from gun violence. Today’s Supreme Court decision does not change that. Although the Court said that the particular law at issue in this case cannot be upheld specifically as to the person challenging it, it reaffirmed the ability of legislatures to restrict firearms access by certain categories of people. Over 90% of Americans support strengthening the Brady Background Check system that uses these categories. We will continue to fight to protect common-sense gun laws and the right of every person in America to live free of gun violence,” said Kris Brown, Brady President.