Every November, swarms of hunters prepare to head out into the Pennsylvania wilderness in anticipation of deer season, however, some may unexpectedly find themselves on the wrong side of the law if they also possess a medical marijuana card. While shooters have long advocated for sobriety while handling firearms, similar to driving, some disagree with the law, saying that the mere permission to purchase marijuana for medical purposes should not preclude them from exercising their Constitutional right.
Warren County’s top law enforcement officer and District Attorney, Rob Greene, who is one of more than 400,000 Pennsylvanians to have a medical marijuana card, is trying to change that law.
“It’s wrong, absolutely wrong,” Greene said.
Under federal law, Greene and others in his position are not permitted to buy or own a gun, nor can they receive a concealed carry permit. Gun buyers across the country must fill out form 4473 when making a firearm purchase accompanied by a background check, asking if they have a card.
“If you have a medical marijuana card, you’re filling out the form, and you answer no to that question, you’re committing a felony,” says Greg Ionadi, owner of Smoke ‘n Guns in Oakmont.
“I would end up like Hunter Biden,” says Greene, recognizing that it is the same law that led to Hunter Biden’s conviction on felony charges for purchasing a firearm while an active cocaine user.
Greene has filed suit against Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director Steven Dettelbach, in Pittsburgh federal court, claiming the law has deprived him of his Second Amendment rights.
When asked what it’s like for a prosecutor to sue the nation’s top law enforcement officials, Greene simply responded, “God bless America. Isn’t it great?”
The federal government sanctimoniously refers to the lawsuit as “meritless” in court paperwork, a seemingly auto-response to any challenge to the supremacy of the Death Star. Citing a previous court ruling that says, “There is no constitutional problem with separating guns and drugs,” the government has filed a motion to dismiss the suit. Not so fast. There is also a law that predates this one, saying that it is unconstitutional to separate citizens from their right to bear arms in the first place, right? Why is that one always overlooked?
“Even if they know that they’re not allowed to buy a new firearm, they may not realize that they’re also legally not allowed to possess the firearms that they currently have,” says Jonathan Stark, owner of Legion Arms in West Mifflin.
The state health department does not ask marijuana card applicants about firearm ownership, nor does the agency turn over lists of cardholders to state police or any federal agency.
“The Medical Marijuana Act and Department of Health regulations provide protections against the disclosure of confidential patient data, including a person’s participation in the medical marijuana program. The DOH does not disclose confidential patient data to a third party unless there is a court order,” according to DOH spokesperson, Neil Ruhland.
“When you go to get a medical marijuana card, they should ask you, do you have guns? Do you plan on getting a gun? Because if getting that card means you can’t get a gun later, that could be very frustrating for someone,” says David Abt of Pittsburgh, who thinks the state should be more transparent.
Kevin Kraus, sheriff of Allegheny County, says the law also prevents cardholders from obtaining a concealed carry permit, but the language is somewhat confusing as the form asks if applicants are an “unlawful user of marijuana.”
“There are no questions about medical marijuana. There are questions about unlawful use of marijuana… I think there is some confusion,” Kraus says.
Meanwhile, Greene has all but lost his guns in a proverbial boating accident, instead transferring them to his wife and making a statement that sounds eerily like a district attorney well aware of government retaliation against anyone who questions its authority.
“I own no guns now. My wife owns lots of guns, but I don’t own any guns. All my guns were transferred to her, and they’re not in my home for the feds that might be listening,” Greene said.
Is it just me, or does it seem to anyone else that most of the realized function of today’s government exists only to criminalize citizens in every way possible and to lord over them with an iron fist? I can’t imagine what we would do with all the wasted time and tax dollars if the government instead put it to use for purposes that actually benefit the citizens they claim to represent.
I believe Mary Jane is still categorized by the Feds as a schedule 1 drug. The current admin was researching changes to listing as a schedule 3 drug. If nothing changes the DEA has scheduled ‘hearings’ set for December 2024. Any changes at the state level is moot in my opinion until the 4473 is changed. It’s not just FBI/ATF, anyone that falls under DOT regulations for commercial transport is affected.
“The current admin was researching changes to listing as a schedule 3 drug“
Of course, that’s all coming to an end.
Well, let me be the first to offer my thoughts and tariffs…
Anyone purchasing a gun should be required to present a clean UA taken not less then 2 hours before the gun purchase.
The marijuana user should be charged twice the regular price for the piss test and half of that money should be donated to a gun control group of their choice to be used to further restrict the constitutional right to bear arms.
To ensure gun owners are not using a prohibited gun all gun owners should be required to submit to drug test any time the county demands the gun owners to take them.
Gun owners domiciles, place of business, vehicle,or any rented property could be inspected to ensure no drugs were present.
Pharmaceuticals prescribed by your doctor that may make you dizzy, or unable to safely operate a motor vehicle would also be a disqualifying factor when those drugs are found in the gun owners system.
Common sense gun laws save lives.
Freedom comes with a price and if that price is being drug and alcohol free it’s a small price to pay to exercise a constitutionally protected right.
Freedom comes with the price of giving up our freedoms to the government? Sound rationale you’ve got there.
If you own a gun, and you take an antihistamine, you should become a felon /sarc. Not only do they cause sedation, they can cause seizures.
The cartels, mafias and gangs need new markets – better to move caffeine to Schedule 1.
It is an EMERGENCY!
FU Prick !!
Purity of Essence.
You’ve still got the freedom to purchase a gun, there is just certain things you have to do for your government to purchase them, like filling out a 4473 form or getting a FOID card. Government permission to exercise your rights still doesn’t take those rights away if you do what the government says.
that’s the 2nd pants on head ‘tarded statement you’ve made today.
Git yer pot the old fashioned way! 99% of ILLANNOY gat owner’s are defying fat boy & the party of satan! Haven’t had pot in40 yeaes🙄
Hillarious!!!!
The “Hillarious” comment was meant for xdduly.
tiny possibility he failed to designate sarc
but track record suggests otherwise.
The problem with pot heads and their supporters is, they don’t believe in the responsibility and consequences that go with using weed.
They believe you can smoke pot and fly a passenger airplane, work on automobile brakes, and perform brain surgery. All while under the influence of marijuana.
Let’s them stay home, indoors and smoke all they want. But remember. If you shoot your gun while you are intoxicated, on pot, or anything else.
You are going to have a difficult time with the local DA office. And if you don’t believe me. Just try it. And see what happens.
You do have the right to possess a gun and marijuana and smoke it. But you don’t have the right to get intoxicated and then use a gun.
But you can certainly try to explain that in court.
Interesting that you know all of the potheads and what they do or do not believe. How long did it take you to get to know all of them?
Having grown up in the 1970’s in california. I have known many of them. I have watched them make pot legal and support taxing it like tobacco.
“So the government can make more money.”
They supported raising business taxes. Until weed was made legal, and they now had to pay those taxes. So instead, they moved to a free state like Colorado. And proceeded to F up that state, too.
Pot heads are s-o.ci-ali-.st pr-og.re-ss-i.ve in their p-0lit-ic-@l 0r-ie-n.tati-0n.
They have never believed in Liberty.
I assume you support the government handing out “free” marijuana to anyone who wants it in San Francisco.
I hope pot dealers are arrested and sent to prison for income tax evasion. Just like the murderer and gangster Al Capone. He didn’t go to jail for all the murders and other crimes he committed.
He went to prison for not paying his taxes.
btw
Pot farmers are stealing water and polluting the land with all the chemicals they use.
And sometimes they will steal an avocado farmers land.
“Pot heads are… They have never believed in Liberty.”
as the porter at deadwood dave’s wild west saloon once said, “evvabody smoke dope…”
crocktails and mezz, hard to think of something more bipartisan than that.
They also wanted to increase their customer base. By making it legal to steal private property. When they supported and voted for prop 47.
Pot is their religion.
Interesting how the atheists did find something to worship along with government.
Here’s an idea, don’t use illegal drugs then you don’t have this problem. The problem here are states not following the law. If you don’t like the law get congress to change it.
It would open a can of worms. People might begin to notice that the prescription drug market is a scam.
Or, get this, people could be responsible and not need the nanny government telling them what to do. Are you really Free if some faceless person can tell you what you can or cannot ingest in your own body? Doesn’t sound like it to me. Just another way for government to bust down your door whenever they feel like it.
So long as the taxpayer doesn’t get hemmed up for shooting the zombies when they get to infringing on the rights of others and we don’t make up some bullshit right to work while not performing because they are high no issues really.
“Oh, for the good old days when nobody locked their doors.”
Oh, you mean when dope was over the counter untaxed legal?
“Well maybe the good old days were not so good after all, ever think of that?”
Ever think your brain ain’t been washed but rather stained? With the blood of the millions killed by prohibition-related violence? Ever think of that?
“I grew up in CA, I don’t have to think, I just make up stuff that I think sounds cool. ”
Yep.
Also when you could shoot thieves and move on with life with minimal disruption. We will never see the good old days again with the advancements in chemistry and resulting derivative drugs from the days of low concentration cocaine mixed in soda or opium in wine. So let’s not pretend it would be that bloodless a transaction now.
Sorry, but I worry way more about super-rich, super-powerful criminal organizations that take over societies,
cultures and governments than I worry over the self- inflicted wounds of addiction. Give the junkies what they want, let the cartels, et al, wither.
And let the sober rule.
The State, and ONLY the State, has the gravitas to hand a consenting adult a dangerous and addicting substance – and the State has the resources to do that at actual cost – which is less than one tenth of one percent of current value.
A junkie is like a setting sun. So nationalize the contraband economy, let the cartels wither, and the sober rule.
BTW – you will find that passing strong selfdefense laws will be much easier when the prohibition-enabled criminal overlords are broke. Shocker!
You will also find that drug-related thievery and violence plummet when clean dope is available to those who will form a contract with the State.
They will both exist regardless your quest will never end. Until normal people can take care of business no amount of laws, legalization, or enforcement will ever make a dent. Even with that there would still be all the fun 19th century issues with addiction (China would be our analog) but it would be potentially manageable. I say this from a state that has legalized, decriminalized, refused to lock up and provides endless resources for clean safe injection. Remove the enablement and allow for justified violence and there may be a chance otherwise welcome to NY.
The various flavors of decriminalization are the absolute worst policy. More addicts consuming more artificially inflated product, while distribution and (increased) profits remain in the hands of organized crime.
The most desired chemicals are agricultural products, and we are very good at agriculture. There is no natural reason why even the most pain-wracked cancer patient should be spending more than a couple of dollars a day for chemical costs, or be faced lack of supply. Ditto the most hardened junkie.
Further, automation and productivity ensure that we will continue to have more people than jobs.
“Guns/drugs are dangerous, so freedom doesn’t work” just does not jibe with the Bill of Rights and the blessings of liberty.. Fortunately there are now ways to handle the real problems of both that do jibe with the BOR.
Reply moderated. Grrr…
The various flavors of decriminalization are the absolute worst policy. More addicts consuming more artificially inflated product, while distribution and (increased) profits remain in the hands of organized crime.
The most desired chemicals are agricultural products, and we are very good at agriculture. There is no natural reason why even the most pain-wracked cancer patient should be spending more than a couple of dollars a day for chemical costs, or be faced lack of supply. Ditto the most hardened addict.
Same for previous and as much as we disagree on this topic you do have interesting and well reasoned thinking on it. I will check for it tomorrow.
The various flavors of decriminalization are the absolute worst policy. More addicts consuming more artificially inflated product, while distribution and (increased) profits remain in the hands of organized crime.
To be continued…
The most desired chemicals are agricultural products, and we are very good at agriculture. There is no natural reason why even the most pain-wracked cancer patient should be spending more than a couple of dollars a day for chemical costs, or be faced lack of supply. Ditto the most hardened addict.
to be continued…
Further, automation and productivity ensure that we will continue to have more people than jobs.
“Guns/drugs are dangerous, so freedom doesn’t work” just does not jibe with the Bill of Rights and the blessings of liberty. Fortunately there are now ways to handle the real problems of both that do jibe with the BOR.
to be continued
The various flavors of decrim are the absolute worst policy. More addicts consuming more artificially inflated product, while distribution and (increased) profits remain in the hands of organized crime.
End
“I worry way more about super-rich, super-powerful criminal organizations that take over societies“
Yes, foreign-born billionaire globalist Elon musk definitely deserves to be the power behind the throne, after all he spent at least $130 million to get Donald elected not to mention the propaganda outlet ‘x’ efforts.
What in retardation are you on about now non sequitor man?
target practice is fun sober or otherwise.
superstition is fear of that which you don’t understand.
“johnny swept the playroom, and he swallowed up all he found.”
(it was 48 hours ’til johnny fired his last round).
and he didn’t miss once.
apologies to donald fagen.
“…end up like Hunter Biden…”
Well, being a DA, you may end up like Hunter Biden, but the rest of us would end up in jail.
Oh, and, “the only dope you been smokin’ is you.”
Marijuana should be like tea was.
Both herbs and taxed exorbitantly until someone starts a revolutionary war
Demorats are the root cause of this crap!
Slippery slope but I really don’t see much of a problem…. Look at all the dumbasses hunting now!
@The Grey Man.
Hey just because I spend $7000 to shoot a deer and get 75lbs of meat doesn’t mean I’m a dumbass.
sorry, I break from my fellow gun crowd on this one. I’m totally and completely fine with this. Pot should have been pulled off the prohibited list decades ago, and I could care less of gun owners are also pot users.
Pot is basically like flogging the log. There are those who use it, those who did use it, and those who lie about using it or having used it.
Pot is about as hard to grow as corn. Deer corn is $9/50lb bag. AKA $00.18/lb.
In case you wonder why the dope dealers and their allies won’t reclassify it.
It’s interesting to see who opposes Americans’ freedom to access and grow cannabis, here’s a partial list:
“Private-sector organizations
Abbott Laboratories
American Anti Drug Council
American Legislative Exchange Council
Corrections Corporation of America
Drug Abuse Resistance Education
Drug Free America Foundation
Families Anonymous
Foundation for a Drug-Free World
The Heritage Foundation”
You’ll notice pharmaceutical companies, as well as the prison industrial complex have a vested interest in continuing to arrest, ‘treat’ and incarcerate people who smoke a joint.
Legalization of cannabis at the federal level will have a major negative impact on the profits of the pharmaceutical industry, how do they sell us their chemical compounds when citizens can grow effective medication in their backyard.
Of course, the prison industrial complex is looking forward to a very profitable future, Donald Trump’s 10 million deportations will be a windfall for them at the taxpayers expense.
10 million deportations would not have been a thing had harris/biden done their jobs.
And now biden gave the go ahead to send missiles into Russian. One fascist leader supporting another. That may touch off ww3 and of course you will blame it on Trump.
It is in your very dna to support evil, isn’t it miner?
When you can kill a drug addict who steals inorder to pay for their legal drugs. Only then will we have utopia in America.
Like you could 150 years ago. Drugs were legal. And it was also legal to kill people who steal.
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It sure didn’t take long for the druggies to stick their heads up. “Don’t you like FREEDOM, bro?” “Everybody does it, bro!” Spare me.
I don’t have a problem with dopers being prohibited from possession of weapons. I include people who can’t face life without their psych meds in that category. I also don’t have a problem with applying the death penalty for felons and illegal aliens found in possession of a weapon. Rights are the obligations of the state to the citizen under the social contract, by definition. Criminals and foreign invaders are not party to the social contract.
Of course, these rules would mean that all the gibbering pink-haired spastics from your local chapter of the John Brown Gun Club would get their doors kicked in and their guns confiscated, with a date with the hangman as the penalty the second time if they go back to their old ways after they get out of prison, so it’s not going to happen any time soon, but a man can dream.