In September 2016, a federal appeals court covering nine western states upheld a ban on firearms sales to residents who hold medical marijuana cards.
Though Colorado was not among those states, lawyers here say the move sends a signal that the federal judicial branch is not sympathetic to state laws when it comes to guns and pot.
The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by a Nevada woman with a medical marijuana card— she says she’s not a user— who was denied a gun by a gun dealer. The court decision is again fueling a debate about the intersection of state and federal law on weed and weapons.
“We’ve had this problem from day one,” says Tony Fabian, an attorney who has helped draft firearms legislation in Colorado.
“There’s nothing in Colorado law that says that it is unlawful to be in possession of a legal amount of marijuana and have a firearm,” Fabian told The Colorado Independent. “The problem is the dichotomy in federal and state law. And the feds are much more restrictive when it comes to firearms ownership.”
Colorado law is silent about whether someone of the appropriate age can carry a legal firearm and a legal amount of marijuana at the same time, says John Jackson, the chief of police for Greenwood Village and a former director of the state police chief’s association.
“If they’re 21 and they’ve got a joint, and a gun on their hip, there’s no issue there,” he said. (Colorado is also an open-carry state.)
The feds have a different take.
“Under federal law, a marijuana user cannot legally possess a firearm,” Lisa Meiman, a spokeswoman for the Denver division of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told The Independent. Not even in Colorado where marijuana is legal to have and use.
So, local Colorado police don’t mind, but a federal agent might. The problem is also compounded because the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama has directed federal agencies not to zealously enforce some federal laws in states that have legalized marijuana.
The difference between state and federal law has frustrated some firearms enthusiasts in Colorado since the state legalized the sale and possession of recreational marijuana with a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2013. The disconnect between laws and agencies grows wider when it comes to concealed-carry permits because county sheriffs’ ask applicants if they are marijuana users. A “yes” answer means no permit.
“Of course you can drink booze, but no devil’s cabbage,” says Isaac Chase, a Colorado Springs firearms instructor and co-founder of a group called Guns for Everyone.
Last year, Chase’s group tried unsuccessfully to gather enough signatures for a ballot initiative that would change the concealed-carry application process. Students in his training classes kept asking about the marijuana issue, he said.
Related: Colorado gun culture weighs cannabis carry and constitutional carry
Buying a gun here — no matter how you carry it — requires filling out a form, which asks several questions, including whether the buyer is an unlawful user of marijuana. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation uses a system called InstaCheck and runs information through the National Instant Criminal Background Check system, or NICS. The bureau also runs background checks for county sheriff’s offices for those applying for concealed weapons permits. But InstaCheck does not access medical marijuana information in the background check, CBI spokeswoman Susan Medina told The Independent.
So, says Boulder attorney Jeff Gard, who practices marijuana law, “the bottom line is but for your own disclosure of that information, there is no way [for a gun dealer] to know,” whether a gun buyer is a medical marijuana card holder.
And here’s something else: Because the 9th Circuit doesn’t cover Colorado, it’s possible for a similar case to pop up in the 10th Circuit, which does cover this state.
Gard offers this potential scenario: What if a botanist who doesn’t use marijuana decides to grow the legally allowed limit of six pot plants because he likes the way they look? If he tells a Colorado gun dealer that he grows pot when he tries to buy a gun, and gets denied a purchase for the same reason as the woman in Nevada, how might the 10th Circuit rule on that one?
Gard suspects such a case could have a different result because it could be a “cleaner” case. And if that happens, Supreme Court here we come. It should be noted that Congress could also step in, make marijuana legal at the federal level, and these issues would be moot. It also should be noted that’s not likely to happen anytime soon.
In Colorado, there isn’t a concerted coalition effort to lobby for law changes among proponents of legal cannabis and the Second Amendment community, say those who work in the industry.
“We don’t really get involved in the issue because it’s not really primary to our members,” says Taylor West, spokeswoman for the National Cannabis Industry Association, which has an office in Denver.
But, she said, “I think if a patient is legally accessing marijuana as medicine under state law then there’s no reason that should affect their constitutional right to possess a gun.”
The woman who brought the lawsuit in Nevada says she got a medical marijuana card in part to express her support for marijuana legalization, ABC News reported, but the court in its 3-0 decision said it was “reasonable for federal regulators to assume a medical marijuana card holder was more likely to use the drug.”
So, to recap: Can you lawfully have a gun in Colorado— say, a shotgun passed down to you by your uncle— and also be in possession of marijuana at the same time?
The answer depends upon whom you ask. Or, more importantly, who catches you doing it.
This seems to violate equal protections. Why would a marijuana prescription be viewed as a disqualifier for gun ownership while a prescription for opiate-based pharmaceuticals is fine?
It would make far more sense to prevent repeat DUI offenders and convicted domestic violence offenders from owning firearms.
I just glad it’s still OK to be drunk as hell and own guns! Yee-haw!
There is a difference between owning a firearm and being denied the purchase of a firearm. The 4473 form says “addicted to”, not user of. HIPAA laws are suppose to protect the cross reference of prescription medication to a firearm purchase. That means mood altering drugs like Prozac, the largest selling drug, is protecting the mentally unstable.
Pot smokers too stoned to understand that marijuana is still illegal under federal law, and try to rationalize their chemical dependence.
Anyone who is telling you what you can or can’t put into your own body is telling you that you’re their slave, their property. And they are making it double clear by trying to take your firearms on to of it. It is time to reject the federal government for itsale unconstitutional ideals of anti freedom and total domination.
So basically whoever supports the use of firearms and possession of a controlled substance is ok ?
That’s actually a felony you can’t have your cake and eat it too……. shady asses wanting to carry firearms and pot at the same time. What’s next making home invasions completely legal and a felony to shoot the intruder?
To the hypocrites intent on demonizing cannabis while ignoring the dangers of consuming alcohol and prescription drugs, I ask you this: are you for personal freedom, or against it? It’s a damn simple question.
It’s quite obvious who has the addiction here and it’s the federal government. Have you ever watched a cop do a drug bust and not be high off of the adrenaline? They were born and bred in the drug war era and it would take moving a mountain to get them to understand let alone allow personal freedom again. It’s not what we should do it’s our duty to live and let live.
This is a very well done article. Thank you. That this is the uncertain state of legal affairs in Colorado and elsewhere is a disgrace. And that situation is the result of inaction by the U.S. Senate and House of Representative. It is ridiculous that purchasers of alcohol and prescription drug users of opiates can use and yet own a firearm but marijuana users cannot.
The Bill of Rights specifically prohibits infringing on the right to bear arms.
Cannabis not only existed at the time was cultivated by multiple Founders. They knew what they were doing.
The US Constitution provides no method for making plants illegal. Alcohol prohibition required a Constitutional Amendment to enforce and was later found to be funded by communist agents.
This is definitely an infringement of our right to bear arms. Everyone I know has a med card and guns too. There good people they just want to keep their families safe. In my opinion there’s nothing wrong with that. Now if they intentionally went out of there way to hurt someone that’s different and I could understand then but this? Jeasus Christ! What’s next?!
BATF form 4473 makes it clear you can’t be a user of Marijuana or other illegal drugs. For alchoal certain misdemeanor offences can provent you from getting a licence to carry. Depends on the state and your police chief, some will require and interview with the candidate and anyother requirements he or she may see fit before issuing you a pistol permit.
What happens if you had a medical marijuana card but you ended up quitting and have not had a medical marijuana card for 4 years dose this mean they cant ever purchase a fire arm
IF a person had a medical marijuana card and ended up quitting and hasn’t somked or even registered for a new medical marijuana card in over 5 years dose this mean they dont have the right to ever purchase a fire arm
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.
Big Federal Government will always try to justify their reasons. Marijuana needs to be a State Choice, not a Federal choice. Besides if somebody is trying to purchase a firearm legally, then they are typically a responsible part of society.
Your Criminals don’t obey any laws. Living in a state that has no legalized marijuana laws, Criminals still have access to firearms, they just don’t obtain them legally.
You sound like someone who has never used Cannabis so you are completely uninformed and talking out of your behind. You ignorant piece of garbage. I can’t believe you support people being able to tell you what you can and can’t do with your own body you make me sick
So Mike is comparing someone who possess a joint, CBD, or edibles with a murderous home intruder. LOL I could say ignorance is bliss but in his case he is probably at home cleaning his glock after polishing off a fifth of bourbon…which is his mind would be justified…..Wake up and smell the coffee Mike!!
Lame. Alcohol…lame…..guns AND alcohol, downright idiotic. Hope I never meet you in real life drunk with a gun, I might just fear for my sober life.