In layman’s terms: The ATF is seeking to update a rule defining usage of controlled substances as it relates to gun owners; the rule slightly loosens the definitions, but would seem to strictly prohibit the regular use of marijuana (even if rescheduled).
Both the Biden and Trump administrations have publicly supported the reclassification of marijuana as a controlled substance, an act that would fall under the purview of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), under the ultimate authority of the U.S. Attorney General. It is the ATF, however, that has taken one of the first – and unexpected – related actions with a notice of proposed rulemaking that it published on January 22.
The unpublished rule posted on the Federal Register is titled “Revising Definition of ‘Unlawful User of or Addicted to Controlled Substance.'” The 33-page document is an interim rule to which the public can post comments, up to and including June 30, 2026.
According to the ATF, the purpose of the proposed rule is to “update the definition of ‘unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance,’ a category of persons who may not possess firearms under federal law.”
It states that, “a disconnect has arisen between NICS firearm purchase determinations, ATF enforcement, and court decisions on what the definition of an unlawful user means.”
Under current federal law, no person who is a user of or addicted to a controlled substance may possess a firearm – a fact embodied on federal form 4473, the federal form that serves as the firearms transaction record used when purchasing a firearm from a licensed dealer.
On December 18, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research.” The order directs the attorney general to “take all necessary steps to complete the rulemaking process related to rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III of the CSA in the most expeditious manner in accordance with Federal law, including 21 U.S.C. 811.”
Reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to a Schedule III controlled substance would not automatically remove the prohibition for gun users because the ban applies to “any controlled substance.” This seems to be part of the issue being addressed in the proposed rule, which observes that for years federal courts have upheld convictions where an individual “…engaged in regular use over a period of time proximate to or contemporaneous with the possession of the firearm.”
The ATF observes that a period “within the last 12 months” has been a general framework used by FBI NICS examiners (with ATF concurrence) when considering or denying applications based on drug convictions. “Concurrently, court decisions have continued to emphasize the element of habitual or regular use,” states the document.
“To make the definition of ‘[u]nlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance’ easier to read, and to distinguish more clearly between the two prongs of the definition, ATF is breaking the definition into multiple paragraphs and has made minor plain-writing edits throughout.”
The newly-proposed, four-part definition follows:
- A person who uses a controlled substance and demonstrates a pattern of compulsive use of the controlled substance, characterized by impaired control over use, is addicted to a controlled substance.
- A person who regularly uses a controlled substance over an extended period of time continuing into the present, without a lawful prescription or in a manner substantially different from that prescribed by a licensed physician, is an unlawful user of a controlled substance.
- Such unlawful use is not limited to using a controlled substance on a particular day, or within a matter of days before shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm. Rather, unlawful use requires evidence that the person has unlawfully used the substance with sufficient regularity and recency to indicate that the individual is actively engaged in such conduct. A person may be an unlawful current user of a controlled substance even though the substance is not being used at the precise time the person seeks to acquire, ship, transport, receive, or possess the firearm.
- A person is not an unlawful user of a controlled substance if the person has ceased regularly unlawfully using the substance, or if the person’s unlawful use is isolated or sporadic or does not otherwise demonstrate a pattern of ongoing use. A person is also not an unlawful user if the person, while using a lawfully prescribed controlled substance, deviates slightly or immaterially from the instructions of the prescribing physician.
A logical reading of the rule by an average person would suggest that although the rule slightly loosens the definitions and framework for considering use of controlled substances, it’s largely left open to interpretation, and strictly speaking would still prohibit the regular use of marijuana, even if rescheduled.
Due to the increased use of recreational marijuana, and the fact that it is regulated under the highly contested Gun Control Act of 1968, the prohibition has been challenged in numerous court cases. In October of 2025, the Supreme Court granted cert to a case that specifically addressed controlled substances and the Second Amendment. Both the Ninth and the Third Circuits have upheld bans on controlled substances. In January of 2024, Second Amendment Foundation brought a case specifically addressing the dichotomy of gun owners having to choose between a civil liberty or medical relief provided by substances like marijuana.
