MEDICAL-MARIJUANA PATIENTS ANGERED BY FIREARMS LIMITS

HELENA, Mont. - Robbie Regennitter is a registered medical-marijuana
patient

Regennitter says he ingests approximately 10-20 milligrams of THC --
the active compound in marijuana -- each night before bed to ease the
painful symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease and an esophagus
condition.

Regennitter is also a hunter and gun owner. According to a new memo
from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,
it is illegal for him or any registered medical-marijuana patient to
own or possess firearms or ammunition.

The letter written last week by ATF Assistant Director Arthur Herbert
to all federal firearms licensees gave them guidance on what to do if
a firearms customer reveals that he or she is a medical-marijuana patient.

According to the letter, "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."

Regennitter said he was stunned when he learned about the
memo.

"At the moment it concerns me, but I'm not going to stop taking
medical marijuana, and I'm not going to give up my firearms,"
Regennitter said. "I don't use (THC) recreationally. I use it because
it helps me."

Jon Svaren, a 15-year Navy veteran who was honorably discharged in
2009, is a medical-marijuana patient who is recovering from a surgery
last November to repair a severe injury to his back.

Svaren is also a gun owner who hunts and uses guns on the farm to
control vermin.

"To take away my Second Amendment rights is contrary to everything
I've ever fought for and contrary to every oath of enlistment I've
taken," Svaren said.

Gun rights and medical-marijuana advocates both expressed outrage over
the letter, which they say singles out a specific group of citizens
and attempts to strip them of their Second Amendment rights.

"The cannabis issue has become representative of nationwide concerns,"
said Kate Cholewa, a board member of the Montana Cannabis Industry
Association. "Citizens are increasingly concerned that the government,
rather than expressing the will of the citizens, now sees itself as
separate from the citizens and is imposing their will upon the people."

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have passed laws
legalizing marijuana for certain medical conditions, but the federal
government classifies the drug as a schedule 1 controlled substance
and thus illegal for any use.

According to ATF spokesman Drew Wade, the Herbert letter was intended
to provide guidance to federally licensed firearms dealers in
complying with federal firearms laws and was not intended to speak to
consumers of medical marijuana.

"We received a number of questions from federal firearms licensees and
gun dealers on (medical-marijuana patients), and we felt we needed to
provide some clarity so they can be in compliance with the laws," Wade
said.

Officials for the National Rifle Association did not return calls
seeking comment, and Larry Pratt, executive director for Gun Owners of
America, declined to comment.

"I can tell you why a lot of organizations won't talk about it:
Marijuana is a lightning-rod subject," said Dave Workman, senior
editor at Gun Week, a twice-monthly newspaper that covers legislative
and regulatory issues related to guns.

"The media -- and the gun prohibitionist lobby in particular -- would
say the gun lobby wants to arm drug addicts," he said.

Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, did
weigh in, saying his organization believes "it is 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."