Medical Marijuana Users No Guns

The U.S. Circuit Court of appeals said that medical marijuana users can't buy new guns in a landmark ruling this week.The ruling comes after a 2011 lawsuit filed by a woman in Nevada, who had attempted to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer and was denied. The woman had recently obtained a medical marijuana card, which the owner of the store knew about, and subsequently used as a reason to stop the purchase.The woman sued but her suit was dismissed by a lower court before making it up to the Ninth Circuit court, which covers several Western states."The burden on Wilson's core Second Amendment right is not severe," said the three-judge panel, adding that she "did not have a constitutionally protected liberty interest in simultaneously holding a registry card and purchasing a firearm."

ATF Open Letter Clarifies Stance on Medical Marijuana Users And Guns

In 2011, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms distributed an "open letter" on the issue of marijuana use and firearms. In it, the ATF clarified that although several states had legalized the use of cannabis for both recreational and medicinal purposes, a dealer could still deny the purchase:

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.Such persons should answer 'yes' to question 11.e. on ATF Form 4473...and you may not transfer firearms or ammunition to them. Further, if you are aware that the potential transferee is in possession of a card authorizing the possession and use of marijuana under State law, then you have 'reasonable cause to believe that the person is an unlawful user of a controlled substance. As such, you may not transfer firearms or ammunition to the person, even if the person answered 'no' to question 11.e. on ATF Form 4473.

The court ruled that because Ms. Wilson could conceivably give up her "green" card, she could still exercise her Second Amendment right to bear arms. Without a medical pot card, she would not longer be considered an unlawful user of a controlled substance.