Feds: Pot And Guns Don’t Mix
Guns for sale in Millbury, Massachusetts. Sean/CreativeCommons/Flickr
In late June, a gun store in Charlemont, Massachusetts, posted a letter on Facebook from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The 2011 letter notified gun dealers that just because someone has a state medical marijuana card, it doesn’t mean it’s legal for them to purchase a gun.
Charles Ricko, who owns Overwatch Outpost Outfitters, said he decided to post the letter after hearing confusion among some gun owners.
“We’ve had several people come into the store,” he said. “They haven’t purchased guns, but people have made statements such as, ‘I’m a medical marijuana cardholder,’ and that marijuana is legal in Massachusetts now, so it shouldn’t affect them with buying a gun.”
But it does.
To buy a firearm, a person first has to fill out a form. It asks a series of questions, like whether they’ve ever been convicted of a felony, been committed to a mental institution or are an unlawful user of marijuana.
And in the federal government’s eyes, any use of marijuana is unlawful.