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1 1 (January 12, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govenzd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con gressionaI R.fesearch Service ~~~~~a ' Inf niin a2le kitv ebtei The Second Amendment and the Federal Prohibition on Unlawful Drug Users from Possessing Firearms January 12, 2024 Title 18, Section 922(g)(3), of the U.S. Code prohibits any person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance from possessing a firearm or ammunition. In the 2023 decision United States v. Daniels, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit determined that Section 922(g)(3) unconstitutionally deprived a defendant of his right to bear arms under the Second Amendment. In doing so, the Fifth Circuit split with several other federal appeals courts that had rejected Second Amendment challenges to Section 922(g)(3). Section 922(g)(3) is part of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which bars nine categories of individuals from possessing firearms or ammunition. Recently, federal appeals courts have held that the firearm possession prohibitions for three of the nine categories violate the Second Amendment: (1) in Daniels, the Fifth Circuit held that Section 922(g)(3) was unconstitutional as applied to the defendant; (2) in United States v Rahimi, the Fifth Circuit invalidated 18 U.S.C. @ 922(g)(8), which prohibits individuals subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms; and (3) in Range v. Attorney General, the Third Circuit concluded that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which makes it unlawful for felons to possess firearms, was unconstitutional as applied to a defendant whose past felony was a nonviolent fraud offense. Each of these three decisions-Daniels, Rahimi, and Range-is now before the Supreme Court in some form. The Supreme Court has agreed to review the Fifth Circuit's ruling in Rahimi. The United States has asked the Supreme Court to review the decisions in Daniels and Range (as well as a subsequent Fifth Circuit decision that raises the same question presented in Rahimi). These petitions are pending. Other CRS products preview the Rahimi case and provide background on Range. This Sidebar offers an overview of Daniels. The case has drawn attention because it is one of the few cases holding an existing federal firearm law to be unconstitutional at least as applied and because it could result in Supreme Court involvement. Section 922(g)(3) has also gained broader public attention because of a recent indictment. This Sidebar begins with a brief overview of recent Supreme Court cases on the Second Amendment, which form the backdrop for the Daniels, Rahimi, and Range decisions. The Sidebar then summarizes the facts, procedural history, and legal conclusions reached by the Fifth Circuit in Daniels. Next, it outlines Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11104 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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