ATF: Until recreational cannabis is federally legalized, pot users cannot own guns.
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives on Tuesday released clarification for gun owners and potential gun owners with Minnesota's recreational cannabis bill officially signed into law.
According to the ATF's St. Paul Field Division, the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits anyone who is an unlawful user of any controlled substance - as defined by the later Controlled Substances Act of 1970 - from "shipping, transporting, receiving, or possessing firearms or ammunition."
"Until marijuana is legalized federally, firearms owners and possessors should be mindful that it remains federally illegal to mix marijuana with firearms and ammunition," said ATF's Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeff Reed, of the St. Paul Field Division. "As regulators of the firearms industry and enforcers of firearms laws, we felt it was important to remind Minnesotans of this distinction as the marijuana laws adjust here in the State of Minnesota."