Pennsylvania GOP Senator Pushes State Police To Reconsider Gun Restrictions For Marijuana ConsumersPosted by MMP News AuthorOn February 27, 2023

A Republican state senator in Pennsylvania is calling on law enforcement to take steps to protect the gun rights of marijuana  consumers, particularly medical cannabis patients—pointing to a federal judge’s recent ruling that the U.S. government’s ban on gun ownership by people who use marijuana is unconstitutional.

Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), in a letter to the acting commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, noted that the commonwealth currently prohibits people from obtaining a license to carry firearms if they acknowledge being “an unlawful user of marijuana” on a state form that they must fill out.

“I believe Pennsylvania can take a measured approach to lifting the prohibition on otherwise qualified medical cannabis users from obtaining their license to carry,” Laughlin wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, including a copy of the February 17 letter.

Medical cannabis is legal in Pennsylvania but remains outlawed federally.

While Laughlin acknowledged that the state restriction aligns with the federal ban on gun ownership by cannabis consumers, he told the top commonwealth law enforcement officer that the recent federal court case “warrants reconsideration of the question on these forms.”

I believe Pennsylvania can take a measured approach to lifting the prohibition on otherwise qualified medical cannabis users from obtaining their license to carry.

Please see the letter I wrote to the Acting PA State Police Commissioner below: