Supremes narrow gun control law

NY Times -   The Supreme Court on Thursday narrowed a federal gun control measure, siding with a marijuana user who had challenged a provision that had banned drug users from owning or possessing guns.

The justices ruled that the government’s use of the law was overbroad, sweeping together recreational drug users with people addicted to drugs who posed a danger to public safety.

Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote the decision. All of the justices agreed with the outcome, although several wrote separately to explain their decision-making.

“We appreciate that drugs and guns can sometimes make for a dangerous mix,” Justice Gorsuch wrote. However, he wrote, the justices rejected the government’s “expansive theory” in the case and found that a historical analogy the government advanced to laws barring habitual drunkards from owning guns “fails under every measure it asks us to consider.”