Groups Outraged After Feds Say Medical Pot Users 
Can’t Buy Guns Or Ammo

Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, and
Kate Cholewa and Chris Lindsey, board members of the Montana Cannabis
Industry Association, separately blasted the Sept. 21 letter sent by
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 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.

Said Cholewa: "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."

State 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 ATF letter reiterated the U.S. 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 substance," 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 goods 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.

In his statement, Marbut 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 over-intrusive
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."