Medical Marijuana User In Honolulu? Give Us Your Guns, No Permit For You.

By Robert Farago via The Truth About Guns

“The Honolulu Police Department is reviewing a policy requiring medical marijuana users to turn over their firearms,” usnews.com reports. “The department sent letters to at least 30 gun owners last month, saying they had 30 days to surrender or transfer ownership of their guns.” That caused something of an uproar in the Aloha State…and beyond! ‘Cause if Hawaii actually sent cops ’round to gun owners holding a medical marijuana card . . .

A dangerous precedent would be set. Lest we forget, Hawaii isn’t the only state to maintain a database of both medical marijuana users and gun owners. The great state of New York also keeps track of legal tokers and gat holders. And yes, federal law makes it illegal to be a weed smoker and a gun owner.

From westhawaiitoday.com:

The state’s largest law-enforcement organization said it will continue to deny future gun permit applications for medical marijuana patients.

Hawaii Police Chief Paul Ferreira [above] said his department’s form letter is sent only in response to admitted medical marijuana patients who apply for a permit to acquire a firearm. Ferreira said he signs them himself.

“When someone applies for a permit to acquire a firearm and they indicate they’re a medical marijuana patient, pursuant to a 2011 opinion from the (U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), they’re no longer qualified to possess a firearm. At that point, we send out the letter telling them their permit to acquire has been denied . . .

If you’re in possession of any firearms or ammunition, you need to turn them in,” Ferreira said Wednesday. “Over the course of this past year, I don’t recall signing more than one or two of those letters.

“We do not go out and look for medical marijuana patients. We don’t go out and ask anybody for information on medical marijuana patients, or send them letters arbitrarily. It’s only in conjunction with when they apply for a permit to acquire.”

Let’s ignore for a moment the outrageous idea that Hawaii residents need a state permit to exercise their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. And the fact that the last state to join the union hasn’t issued a single concealed carry permit in eighteen years. Or the fact that marijuana is safer than alcohol, on every level (save criminal involvement in its cultivation and distribution).

Let’s focus on the Honolulu PD’s decision to scan the state’s gun and marijuana registries for overlap, and then threaten to send gun confiscation goons (Honolulu SWAT team above) to enforce the federal ban on pot smoking gun owners.

What kind of law enforcement official would even think it’s a good idea to poke that bear? Never mind send his — make that her — officers into harm’s way to git ‘er done?

That would be Virginia-born, North Carolina-raised Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard (above). The officer chosen to replace Chief Kealoha after he was arrested for 20 counts of abuse of power and public corruption.

Anyway, it seems clear that Uncle Sam needs to legalize marijuana, stat. Before someone gets hurt. I mean, someone else . . .