Washington DC

The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on Tuesday (Jul 2) declined to hear a petition against a federal law that prohibits convicted felons and drug users from carrying weapons. The court's intervention could have unravelled President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden’s federal firearms conviction. Additionally, the court declined to entertain an appeal against an assault weapons ban in Illinois. The court instead sent the whole set of gun cases back to lower courts.

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A law that has been used to convict Hunter Biden was sent to lower courts for review.

The SCOTUS justices directed the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the high court's June ruling that struck down a longstanding ban on drug users having guns. Hunter's defence is now citing that ruling in a case filed against him for buying a gun when he was addicted to drugs.

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The SCOTUS also sent back other gun cases to lower courts challenging a law that bars people from having a gun after they are convicted of a crime. Earlier, an appeal court had ruled that a lifetime ban on convicts may violate his Second Amendment rights.

Meanwhile, Justice Samuel Alito disagreed to a lower court's decision that supported a blanket ban on assault weapons in Illinois. However, he still declined to take up the challenge as he chose to wait for the judgment by lower courts.

Bruen ruling of 2022

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This move came after the famous 2022 ruling, known as Bruen, that expanded gun laws in the US, intended to protect victims of domestic violence.

The Bruen ruling said gun laws must be grounded in historic tradition to stay on the books.

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However, this time around, the SCOTUS appeared reluctant to dive right into the mess.

“At least for now, the court seems unwilling to jump right back into the messy fight that it touched off two years ago in the Bruen case with respect to exactly what the Second Amendment does and doesn’t prohibit,” CNN quoted an analyst as saying. 

(With inputs from agencies)