Congressional Research Service lays out Congress's options on the cannabis-user gun ban after the Hemani ruling

As of July 16, 2026. The Congressional Research Service has published a Legal Sidebar, dated July 7, laying out the paths Congress can take on the federal ban on gun possession by drug users after the Supreme Court’s June 18 decision in United States v. Hemani. Marijuana Moment reported on the CRS document on July 14.

The federal law at issue bars any person who is an “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing a firearm. The justices agreed unanimously that it could not be applied to Ali Danial Hemani, a Texas resident who admitted to regular marijuana use while owning a legally purchased gun. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the Court, described the decision as a narrow one, limited to how the law applied to Hemani.

What the CRS report says

Per the CRS, Congress can:

• Narrow the law. The CRS describes an option to “more narrowly capture only those individuals who may, because of their use or the nature of the drug involved, present a danger to themselves or others.” The Court’s opinion left room for prosecuting “addicts or those presently intoxicated,” and for cases where the government offers “individualized proof that the defendant is dangerous.”
• Wait for the lower courts. Congress may also let district and appeals courts work through the questions Hemani did not answer.

The report does not recommend either path. It does not name a bill or a legislator, and it does not address US territories.

Why this matters in the USVI

Adults 21 and older can legally possess up to two ounces of cannabis flower in the territory under the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act, signed January 18, 2023. Federal law is unchanged here. Marijuana remains in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act except for FDA-approved products and state-licensed medical cannabis, which the Justice Department moved to Schedule III on April 22.

The federal gun ban applies on St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John as it does everywhere else, and charges under it are brought in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, which sits in the Third Circuit. Hemani binds that court like every other federal court.

Because the decision turns on one defendant’s facts, it does not settle every case involving a cannabis user who owns a gun. It does mean that a prosecution like the one against Hemani, resting on regular cannabis use without evidence of addiction, intoxication, or individual dangerousness, now runs into the Supreme Court’s holding. Those three exceptions remain open to prosecutors.

What is unclear

Whether Congress will act this session, whether the Justice Department will issue charging guidance to US Attorneys after Hemani, and whether the US Attorney’s Office for the District of the Virgin Islands will restate its charging policy are questions the public record does not yet answer.

What to watch

• Any bill to amend the federal drug-user gun ban.
• Justice Department guidance to US Attorneys on charging after Hemani.
• Any statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of the Virgin Islands on these prosecutions.
• A Third Circuit case presenting the post-Hemani question for a cannabis user who owns a gun.
• Any Office of Cannabis Regulation guidance on firearm ownership for patients, sacramental users, or licensees.