A proposed initiative that would have given concealed-carry rights to marijuana users won't appear on the November ballot, according to the Colorado Secretary of State's Office.
Organizers for the campaign had until August 5 to turn in the 124,238 signatures needed for the initiative to qualify for the election. Although three other campaigns submitted signatures right before the deadline, Initiative 147: Criteria for Obtaining Concealed Handgun Permit wasn't one of them.
The initiative, pushed by Colorado-based Guns for Everyone, would have removed marijuana from the "unlawful use" category on concealed handgun permit applications. Guns for Everyone attempted a similar ballot push in 2016 but failed to gather enough signatures that time, as well.
Guns for Everyone co-founder Edgar Antillon did not respond to a request for comment. In previous interviews with Westword, he said that many of his members have to pick between firearm ownership and medical marijuana. After the initiative was approved for signature gathering in March, Antillion predicted that voter education would be the biggest challenge.
"One major thing we learned from last time is that educating the public on the issue is one of the most difficult things to do. There's a lot of people who might think this initiative would allow others to be high and use guns, but that's not the case," he said at the time.
Firearm owners aren't required to register guns in Colorado, but the state does require registration for concealed-carry permits — and the registration application for concealed-carry permits includes questions about federally unlawful activities.
At the federal level, all marijuana users are still banned from gun ownership because of a question on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) firearms form that asks gun owners if they use illegal drugs.
Conveniently forgetting about past marijuana use when signing that form is a common tactic for gun owners who recreationally consume pot, but that could lead to legal trouble down the road. Licensed medical marijuana patients can't even try that, though, because they are listed in state databases, and registered marijuana business owners who fail to be truthful are at risk of further investigation, as well.
Firearm owners aren't required to register guns in Colorado, but the state does require registration for concealed-carry permits.
Flickr/Ibro Palic
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