Yesterday Illinois officially legalized recreational marijuana, and as I look over the internet, there is some concern about the way that the use of recreational cannabis might impact firearm ownership in the state. Now, the Illinois State Police put out a statement that essentially said that they weren’t going to revoke someone’s FOID card- which is the card that allows for Firearm ownership in this state- simply because that person was lawfully using marijuana. They did say, however, that the ISP will revoke FOID cards where it is demonstrated that an individual is addicted to or is a habitual user of cannabis. This brings us to our first problem, which is that it’s not immediately clear what “habitual user” or “addicted to” actually means. I mean, if you wanted to define it broadly, “habitual user” could mean somebody who smokes once a month. if you do it regularly, it could be considered a habit. So that’s the first area where things are kind of blurry, and I don’t like blurry lines where there could be criminal consequences.
The second area where I have a concern is when it comes to purchasing a firearm. When you buy a gun, you fill out a form for the ATF called the 4473. Question 11(e) of that form asks, and I quote, “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?” and right underneath that is a warning: “The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.” If you say yes on the form, two things happen. First, the gun purchase probably isn’t going to go through, and second, you’ve admitted to the federal government that you’re engaging in activity that is a federal crime. That’s a problem. On the other hand, you could lie on the form,. but that’s not good either, because it’s a federal agency asking this question, which means lying on that form is potentially a felony. Now, they don’t prosecute cases like that very often, but I’m not fond of risking five years in prison (which is the maximum penalty) on the assumption that the federal government is just going to let things slide.
Further, because of the way cannabis stays in your system, if you’re somebody who makes use of a concealed carry permit, you’re gonna want to stay away from it altogether. The reason I say that is if you get involved in a Defensive shooting, even if it’s clean and you did everything right, you’re probably going to be subject to a drug test. If your test comes up positive for THC, and you’ve shot somebody, you’re going to have a problem, in the same way that you would have a problem if you tested with alcohol in your system. Don’t put yourself in that position.
What I’m telling you is that the legalization of marijuana in Illinois has created a tension between the way the substance gets treated by the state and the way it gets treated by the federal government. Because of that, when you start engaging in federally regulated activities, like purchasing a firearm, you’re going to have some problems if you consume cannabis with any regularity. Because the federal government takes a hand in gun regulation, and because marijuana remains a controlled substance, the more firearms play a part in your life, the more marijuana probably ought to stay out of it.
https://youtu.be/z6ongv6jIMY
