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A proposed ballot measure in Colorado would remove marijuana use as a disqualification for concealed carry permits in the state, potentially allowing people who use the drug to carry concealed firearms in public.<\/p>\n
The measure, backed by the advocacy group Guns for Everyone, is set for a public hearing on Tuesday morning before the state\u2019s Legislative Council Staff (LCS). After that meeting and any subsequent revisions to the proposal\u2019s text, the campaign would need to file the would-be initiative with the secretary of state before activists could begin gathering the required 124,238 valid voter signatures required to qualify for the 2024 ballot.<\/p>\n
Guns for Everyone co-founder Edgar Antillon said he\u2019s confident the campaign will find broad support among the state\u2019s voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is one of those things that most Coloradans are in favor of,\u201d he told ABC affiliate Denver 7<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a freedom that everybody should have access to.\u201d<\/p>\n The Second Amendment advocacy group, which offers free concealed carry classes to people in the state and typically opposes gun control measures, sees the issue as a matter of both freedom and fairness.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of those silly things that\u2019s been going on for a while,\u201d Antillon said. \u201cWe legalize marijuana, but we don\u2019t give them the ability to defend themselves. Alcohol users get to defend themselves. Why not marijuana users?\u201d<\/p>\n The change would create a split between Colorado\u2019s gun laws and federal law by removing a reference to concealed carry permit applicants being denied if they\u2019re ineligible to possess a gun under federal law. It would also add an explicit exception around marijuana use to a section prohibiting concealed carry permits for unlawful users of controlled substances.<\/p>\n Under the proposal<\/a>, a sheriff \u201cshall not use a permit applicant\u2019s lawful use of marijuana [under state law] as a basis for denying the applicant a permit,\u201d says the one-page document. Further it adds that whether an applicant\u2019s marijuana use is unlawful \u201cshall be determined as provided in state law\u201d rather than federal law, as is the current practice.<\/p>\n \u2014 Under federal law, being an \u201cunlawful user\u201d of a controlled substance, including marijuana, means a person cannot legally buy or possess a gun.<\/p>\n Enforcement of that rule has been inconsistent, however. Attorneys for President Joe Biden\u2019s son Hunter Biden, for example, who\u2019s been charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) with illegally owning a firearm while a user of illegal drugs, have argued that millions of marijuana users in legal states already own guns<\/a>.<\/p>\n The younger Biden\u2019s legal team has alleged that that even the prosecutor on the case has acknowledged that \u201can ordinary citizen would not be prosecuted for this offense is borne out by DOJ\u2019s policy and statistical evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n While people who use cannabis are barred from owning firearms under the law, a little-notice FBI memo from 2019 that recently surfaced shows that the federal government generally does not consider it a violation of the law for medical cannabis caregivers and growers to have guns<\/a>.<\/p>\n The statute behind the prohibition has been challenged in a number of federal courts in recent years, with more than one judicial body determining that the restriction is unconstitutional. DOJ has steadfastly defended the ban, however, contending that medical marijuana patients and everyday consumers pose unique dangers to society that justify withholding Second Amendment rights.<\/p>\n Last month, for example, the Justice Department told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that historical precedent \u201ccomfortably\u201d supports the restriction. Cannabis consumers with guns pose a unique danger to society, the Biden administration claimed, in part because they\u2019re\u00a0\u201cunlikely\u201d to store their weapon properly<\/a>.<\/p>\n The federal government has repeatedly claimed that those analogues provide clear support for limiting gun rights for cannabis users. But\u00a0several federal courts have separately deemed the marijuana-related ban unconstitutional<\/a>, leading DOJ to appeal in several ongoing cases.<\/p>\n The Justice Department asserted similar points during oral arguments in a\u00a0separate but related case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit<\/a>\u00a0in October. That case focuses on the Second Amendment rights of medical cannabis patients in Florida.<\/p>\n Attorneys in both cases have also touched on a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruling from August,\u00a0Daniels v. United States<\/em>, that found\u00a0the ban preventing people who use marijuana from possessing firearms is unconstitutional<\/a>, even if they consume cannabis for non-medical reasons.<\/p>\n DOJ had\u00a0already advised the Eleventh Circuit court that it felt the ruling was \u201cincorrectly decided,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and the department\u2019s attorney reiterated that it\u2019s the government\u2019s belief that \u201cthere are some reasons to be uncertain about the foundations\u201d of the appeals court decision.<\/p>\n The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma also ruled in February that\u00a0the ban prohibiting people who use marijuana from possessing firearms is unconstitutional<\/a>, with the judge stating that the federal government\u2019s justification for upholding the law is \u201cconcerning.\u201d<\/p>\n In U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, a judge ruled in April that banning people who use marijuana from possessing firearms is unconstitutional\u2014and it said the same legal principle\u00a0also applies to the sale and transfer of guns<\/a>.<\/p>\n In August, meanwhile, ATF sent a letter to Arkansas officials saying that the state\u2019s recently enacted law\u00a0permitting medical cannabis patients to obtain concealed carry gun licenses<\/a>\u00a0\u201ccreates an unacceptable risk,\u201d and could\u00a0jeopardize the state\u2019s federally approved alternative firearm licensing policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Shortly after Minnesota\u2019s governor signed a legalization bill into law in May,\u00a0the agency issued a reminder emphasizing<\/a>\u00a0that people who use cannabis are barred from possessing and purchases guns and ammunition \u201cuntil\u201d federal prohibition ends.<\/p>\n In 2020, ATF\u00a0issued an advisory specifically targeting Michigan<\/a>\u00a0that requires gun sellers to conduct federal background checks on all unlicensed gun buyers because it said the state\u2019s cannabis laws had enabled \u201chabitual marijuana users\u201d and other disqualified individuals to obtain firearms illegally.<\/p>\n Attorneys for Hunter Biden, who has been indicted on a charge of buying a gun in 2018 at a time when he\u2019s disclosed that he was an active user of crack cocaine, have previously cited the court ruling on the unconstitutionality of the federal ban<\/a>, arguing that it applies to their client\u2019s case as well.<\/p>\n Republican congressional lawmakers have filed two bills so far this session that focus on gun and marijuana policy.<\/p>\n Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, filed legislation in May to protect the Second Amendment rights of people who use marijuana in legal states,\u00a0allowing them to purchase and possess firearms<\/a>\u00a0that they\u2019re currently prohibited from having under federal law.<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has\u00a0committed to attaching that legislation to a bipartisan marijuana banking bill<\/a>\u00a0that advanced out of committee last month and is pending floor action.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Mast is also\u00a0cosponsoring a separate bill from Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV)<\/a>\u00a0this session that would more narrowly allow medical cannabis patients to purchase and possess firearms.<\/p>\n One place where the matter is particularly relevant is Jersey City, New Jersey, where Mayor Steven M. Fulop (D) is suing over a state policy that allows police officers to use marijuana while off duty.<\/p>\n That challenge, however, has sparked pushback from two police officers, who\u2019ve\u00a0since sued Jersey City over what they say is a politically motivated move<\/a>\u00a0by Fulop in service of a future gubernatorial campaign.<\/p>\n Medical Marijuana Growers And Caregivers Can Own Guns, But Patients Can\u2019t, FBI Says In Little-Noticed Memo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The post Colorado Ballot Initiative Would Let Marijuana Consumers Get Concealed Carry Permits For Guns<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A proposed ballot measure in Colorado would remove marijuana use as a disqualification for concealed carry permits in the state, potentially allowing people who use the drug to carry concealed firearms in public. The measure, backed by the advocacy group Guns for Everyone, is set for a public hearing onContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":71101,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71100"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71102,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71100\/revisions\/71102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
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