COURT: POT CARDHOLDER CAN CARRY GUN

Sheriff tried to deny permit to local medical pot patient

The Oregon Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court Wednesday that
Sheriff Mike Winters' denial of a concealed handgun license to a
medical marijuana cardholder wasn't supported by law.

Upholding an earlier decision by Jackson County Circuit Court Judge
Mark Schiveley, the ruling said Winters did not have grounds to deny
Cynthia Willis' permit in 2008. Winters had argued that the federal
Gun Control Act of 1968 was the legal basis of his decision.

In its ruling, the Court of Appeals found that Willis complied with
state law in her application, and disputed Winters' federal
arguments. "In sum, we are not persuaded that the Sheriff is being
forced to violate -- or even potentially violate -- any federal law
by issuing a concealed handgun license pursuant to Oregon's
concealed handgun licensing statutes," the court ruled.

Portland attorney Leland Berger, who represents Willis and three
others in the state who also have been denied concealed handgun
permits, said the decision is a victory for marijuana cardholders
throughout the state.

"It means the sheriffs in Oregon will no longer be able to
discriminate against patients," Berger said. "It's time for the
sheriff (Winters) to stop wasting the taxpayer's money and stop
litigating this issue."

He said the handgun permit denial by Winters and other sheriffs is a
result of their opposition to the medical marijuana law, rather than
over any real issue with the weapons permit.

Winters said he hadn't reviewed the court ruling yet and would need
to review it with his attorney before he could make any comments.

Benjamin Bloom, Winters' attorney, said he couldn't comment on the
case or whether the decision would be appealed until after he
discussed it with Winters.

Willis, 53, volunteers with Patient Services, a nonprofit that helps
people obtain a medical marijuana card.

She said she welcomed the ruling for herself and other cardholders.
"I"m so happy that we're starting to get some equality, and it will
move the state forward as a whole," she said.

While the ruling went against Winters, Willis said she supports the sheriff.

"He and his department were doing their job by protecting me from
some consequences on a federal level," she said.

At the time she applied for the concealed handgun license, Willis
said, she had been a medical marijuana user for four years to
alleviate severe muscle spasms.

In a similar local case, medical marijuana card holder Lori
Duckworth, executive director of Southern Oregon NORML, also has
challenged Winters in court after he denied her application for a
concealed handgun permit.

Circuit Court Judge Ron Grensky on June 8 denied the application and
supported Winters' legal arguments, putting Grensky's ruling at odds
with those of Schively and the Court of Appeals, according to
Duckworth's attorney, Mark Haneberg.

Haneberg said he would file a motion in Grensky's court asking him
to reconsider his earlier ruling in light of the Court of Appeals' judgment.

"I'm filing a motion to reconsider so Judge Grensky can eat a little
crow," Haneberg said. However, he noted that different judges often
come up with different rulings, and lawyers often have legal
opinions that don't hold up in the courts.

"I've eaten a little crow myself," he said.

In the Court of Appeals ruling, the court found that Willis
satisfied all the requirements of the state law under Oregon Revised
Statute 166.291.

According to the ruling, Winters conceded that Willis fulfilled the
state requirements that would make her eligible for a handgun
license, but Winters stated federal law prevented him from issuing
the handgun license.

The Court of Appeals cited a paragraph in the Gun Control Act that
specifically gives states the right to pass their own laws regarding
gun ownership.

Also, the court said, the sheriff's arguments did not convince the
appellate judges that it is impossible to comply with both the state
law and the federal act.

"In sum, the circuit court correctly concluded that Oregon's
concealed handgun licensing statutes are not preempted by the
federal Gun Control Act," the court determined.

The court noted that Oregon's law gives someone a license for an
action -- carrying a concealed weapon -- that would otherwise be illegal.

Likewise, the medical marijuana act allows someone to do something
that would otherwise be illegal in Oregon, the court said.