HELENA – Members of Montana’s congressional delegation have criticized a federal memo that says it’s illegal for licensed medical marijuana cardholders to own or possess guns or ammunition.
Democratic Sen. Jon Tester wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder and the memo’s author urging them to “immediately reconsider this misguided effort,” Lee Newspapers of Montana reported Friday.
Arthur Herbert, assistant director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, issued a memo on Sept. 21 clarifying that federal law prohibits anyone who is an “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing firearms. Marijuana is classified as a controlled substance.
The memo said firearms dealers can’t sell a gun or ammunition if they have “reasonable cause to believe” the buyer is using a controlled substance.
“These regulatory changes infringe upon the privacy and Second Amendment rights of Montanans while placing an unreasonable burden upon the small business owners who sell firearms and ammunition,” Tester wrote.
“It is unacceptable that law-abiding citizens would be stripped of their Second Amendment rights simply because they hold a state-issued card authorizing the possession and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes,” Tester added.
Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg, through his spokesman Jed Link, criticized the policy and the Obama administration.
“Between the ATF clamping down on gun rights and two new anti-gun Supreme Court justices, Montanans’ Second Amendment rights are once again under fire from Washington,” Link said.
Sen. Max Baucus said he will continue to defend individual gun rights.
“I’m concerned to hear ATF may be impeding the rights of law-abiding folks,” Baucus said. “Individual gun rights must be protected and I’ll never stop fighting to make sure they stay intact.”