Illegal for Medical Marijuana Cardholders to Buy Firearms

GUN, MEDICAL POT GROUPS BLAST ATF POLICY

HELENA - A gun group and medical marijuana advocates expressed
outrage Tuesday over a new federal policy clarifying that it is
illegal for medical marijuana cardholders to buy firearms and
ammunition and for dealers to sell these products to them.

Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association,
and Kate Cholewa and Chris Lindsey, board members of Montana Cannabis
Industry Association, separately blasted the Sept. 21 letter sent by
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the U.S.
Justice Department to federally licensed firearms dealers.

"It is egregious that people may be sentenced to years in a federal
prison only because they possessed a firearm while using a
state-approved medicine," Marbut said in a statement from the association.

Cholewa said: "In fact, the policy goes so far as to say even being
in possession of a medical cannabis card forfeits a citizen's Second
Amendment rights whether or not that person ever followed through and
used cannabis for their condition."

Chris Lindsey, a lawyer specializing in medical marijuana cases,
wrote: "With a stroke of a pen, the Department of Justice has
suspended the Second Amendment for those who use medical cannabis."

Rep. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, who headed an interim legislative panel
that studied the issue last year, called the letter "further evidence
that federal marijuana law trumps any Montana legislation, initiative
or court action attempting to create protected medical use for marijuana."

"The only viable action open to Montana and other states is to change
the federal law," Sands said.

The federal letter reiterated the Justice Department's position that
marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. The
memo added that "there are no exceptions in federal law for marijuana
purportedly used for medicinal purposes, even if such use is
sanctioned by state law."

Federal law makes it illegal for someone to sell or otherwise dispose
of any firearms or ammunition to a person "knowing or having
reasonable cause to believe that such person is an unlawful user of
or addicted to a controlled substances," the memo said.

"Therefore, any person who uses or is addicted to marijuana,
regardless of whether his or her state has passed legislation
authorizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes, is an unlawful user
of or addicted to a controlled substance and is prohibited by federal
law from possessing firearms or ammunition," it said.

The memo says people who are using medical marijuana should answer
"yes" to a question on that issue on the Firearms Transaction Record
form that asks: "Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to,
marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other
controlled substance?" Gun dealers must refuse to sell firearms or
ammunition to those answering yes.

If a gun dealer has reasonable cause to believe the person is an
unlawful user of medical marijuana, the letter says the dealer may
not sell guns and bullets to the person, even if he answered no to
the question.

Chris Bone, who works in the gun department at Capital Sports &
Western, said those working in sporting good stores have no way of
checking whether someone wanting to buy guns or ammunition has a
medical marijuana card.

He said he's never had a customer answer yes to that question, Bone said.

In his statement, Marbut, said called it "more than unfortunate when
a constitutional right - the right to bear arms that people have
reserved to themselves from government interference - is arbitrarily
taken away by what many see as an overbearing and overintrusive
federal government.

"This is a matter, however hotly contested, that should be left to
the discretion of the Montana Legislature, not a bureau of the
executive branch of the federal government."

Marbut asked why the right to bear arms isn't treated the same as the
freedoms of the press, religion or speech.

Cholewa said the federal government is rescinding gun rights after
the Legislature tried to subject citizens to warrantless searches
with the medical marijuana law. The federal government is "unable to
fight the truth that hundreds of thousands are finding relief through
medical cannabis.

"They have neither facts nor science to support their position so the
federal government is using force, threats and the denial of their
constitutional rights. They've invested billions in misinformation
about cannabis. They don't like having their message undermined by
data and experience."