(Photo credit: jirkaejc/Newscom).
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is proposing to revise its federal firearms transaction form in a way that would remove explicit language warning that marijuana possession remains illegal under federal law even when used for medicinal purposes under state law.
The draft revision to ATF Form 4473, posted as part of a federal information collection notice, keeps marijuana in the form’s controlled-substance question. Buyers would still have to certify that they are not an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug or other controlled substance.
But the warning attached to that section would change substantially.
The current version tells firearm purchasers that marijuana use or possession remains unlawful under federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in their state. The proposed version instead says a person can be an unlawful user under federal law even if possession is legal under state law, adding only that federal law does not allow the use or possession of marijuana for recreational purposes.
The change is notable because it removes the form’s direct reference to medical marijuana at a time when federal officials are moving forward with moving cannabis to Schedule III, making it no longer illegal for all purposes under federal law.
The draft is marked as “Do Not Use,” with public comments on the form collection open through July 7. If the new form becomes official, the change will mark a meaningful shift in federal firearms paperwork, narrowing the marijuana warning from a blanket statement covering both medical and recreational use to language focused specifically on recreational marijuana.
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