Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced that the Medical Marijuana Program Patient Registry had reached 3,800 registered patients in its first week of registration. While individuals may be able to lawfully possess marijuana in Pennsylvania under Pennsylvania law if the person is registered on the Patient Registry and has been approved for use by a qualified doctor, Federal law still provides that the possession and/or use of marijuana is unlawful, as a Schedule 1 drug.
Although we have written extensively about the fact that marijuana is federally prohibited and that ATF revised the ATF 4473 form to reflect such, few individuals appear aware that they lose their right to keep and bear arms if they are a current user of marijuana, even if approved for use by a qualified doctor. (As many people are confused, a doctor cannot prescribe marijuana, due to Federal law, but can suggest to a patient that he/she utilize marijuana).
On the most recent version of the ATF 4473, it reflects under question 11e.:
e. Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?
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.
As a result, more than 3,800 residents of Pennsylvania have presumptively become prohibited under Federal law from possession and purchasing firearms and ammunition.
Moreover, individuals who live in households where a registered medical marijuana patient resides, need to consider the potential ramifications of their own rights to keep and bear arms.
If you are concerned about whether you have lost your right to keep and bear arms as a result of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program or your residing in a residence with a medical marijuana user, contact Firearms Industry Consulting Group today to discuss YOUR rights and legal options.
Firearms Industry Consulting Group® (FICG®) is a registered trademark and division of Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C., with rights and permissions granted to Prince Law Offices, P.C. to use in this article.
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Published by Joshua Prince, Esq.
With our 2nd Amendment rights being attacked at both the Federal and State level, and the ATF (Burea of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) trying to close down FFLs (Federal Firearms Licensees) for minor infractions while making FFLs the scapegoat when the ATF's records are inaccurate, I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am one of only a handful of attorneys across the US that practices in the niche area of law known as firearms law. I decided to concentrate my legal practice on firearms law not only because I am a shooter and firearms enthusiast, but also to ensure that our inalienable Right to Keep and Bear Arms is never encroached upon.
I handle cases at the Federal and State level for both FFLs and individuals. At the federal and state levels for individuals, I actively defend the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution and Section 21 of the PA Constitution, as well as, help individuals with:
- License to Carry Firearms Denials;
- Challenges to Erroneous PICS Denials;
- Relief from Firearms Disabilities;
- Estate Planning Advice;
- Gun/NFA Trusts; and
- 42 USC 1983 Actions for Deprivation of Civil Rights
At both the state and federal levels, I represent FFLs and SOTs throughout Pennsylvania and the US regarding:
- ATF Compliance Inspections;
- Warning Letters and Hearings;
- FFL Revocations;
- Corporate Structure Advice
- Indoor/Outdoor Range Implementation; and
- Forfeiture Proceedings
In following my love for firearms and firearms law, I have taught several Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminars on Firearms in Estates and Trusts and Firearms Law 101 for several Bar Associations, including Berks, Cumberland, and Dauphin Counties. I also planned and taught several Firearms in Estates CLE classes for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI).
While at Widener Law School, I was a member of the Widener Law Journal. I wrote an article on the Inaccuracy of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR). I also had an article published on Fee Disputes in Workers Compensation cases in the Widener Law Journal, Volume 18, No. 2.
You can often find me posting on several internet forums, including Subguns, Uzitalk, AR15, and PAFOA. I also hold PA Firearms Law classes for local ranges to inform the public on the firearm laws of the Commonwealth.
Following in my father's footsteps, I am also a Board member for the Pottstown Police Athletic League (PAL).
View all posts by Joshua Prince, Esq.
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Your information is not 100% correct. Please review Section 2103 PA Act 16.
All rights are retained by those registered in the MMJ Program in PA.
We may not purchase new firearms, those we have are covered under PA Constitution Article 1 Section 21 and Section 2103 of Act 16
As The program emulates the ABC-MAP Act (for monitoring prescriptions (We are a seed to sale tracked program)), 2014 Act 191, under Section 9, only the Attorney Generals Office may access the patient information on behalf of law enforcement, LE may not have direct access, and it has since been rescinded. Access may only be granted under certain circumstances.
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Jeff, unfortunately, you are incorrect. Federal law, pursuant to the supremacy clause, is the supreme law of the land. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3), any individual who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802))” is prohibited from purchasing and possessing firearms and ammunition. It is immaterial that Pennsylvania enacted a medical marijuana act.
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What about individuals who drink aclcohal or take prescribed pain medicine
Which are narcotics, are they too then not able to possess or purchase firearms? It is the same thing if not less than marijuana. Liberals have been trying to take away our arms for years. Is this law their way to attempt to do this?
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