[vta]

Honolulu PD Demands Cannabis Patients Turn Over Their Firearms



Gun-owning cannabis patients in Honolulu, Hawaii aren’t feeling like they’re living in paradise right about now. After all, many recently got a letter from the Honolulu Police Department demanding they either transfer their firearms or turn them over to law enforcement.

The Honolulu Police Department has sent letters to local medical marijuana patients ordering them to “voluntarily surrender” their firearms because of their MMJ status.

The letters, signed by Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard, inform patients that they have 30 days upon receipt of the letter to transfer ownership or turn in their firearms and ammunition to the Honolulu Police.

The existence of the notices, first reported early today by Russ Belville at The Marijuana Agenda podcast, was confirmed to Leafly News this afternoon by the Honolulu Police Department.

The startling order comes just three months after the state’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Hawaii’s capital city.

The clash between state marijuana laws and federal firearms law—which prohibits all cannabis patients and consumers from purchasing firearms—is a growing point of legal contention in the 29 states with medical marijuana laws. The Honolulu letters, however, may represent the first time a law enforcement agency has proactively sought out state-registered medical marijuana patients and ordered them to surrender their guns.

The law is, unfortunately for these folks, pretty clear.

However, it does illustrate one of the primary problems with gun registration.

What? Gun registration?

Yes. Hawaii is one of the handful of states that maintain a gun registry. They know every lawfully held firearm in the state and who has it. As a result, it was easy for law enforcement to compare the two databases and figure out who owned guns and was getting medical marijuana.

While many medical marijuana advocates are upset over this, I can’t help but be curious just how many support gun registration? How many thought it would be a good idea to create a database of every gun owner in the state?

This is what happens. Gun registrations are really only useful if you want to confiscate someone’s firearms. In this case, the law may support disarming these particular individuals, but let’s face the facts. The law, as it’s being interpreted at the moment, will always support the confiscation of firearms for whatever reason.

It’s entirely possible that we’ll see more of this behavior from other departments in urban, anti-gun cities like Los Angeles or similar communities.

Either way, we can easily point to this as the reason gun registration is a problem. It doesn’t stop crime since criminals don’t register their guns. It only makes it easier for police to find who has guns so they can later take them away for whatever reason. Yes, in this case it’s using a drug that might be legal on the state level but is still recognized as illegal by federal law. What might it be tomorrow?

That’s why every gun registration scheme needs to be fought vehemently. This is the only thing they’re really effective for, after all.

go here for links

[moose eater]

Once upon a time, Fish & Wildlife ordered the NW Alaska folks to stop taking geese. When they arrived to enforce their mandate, there were many folks standing side by side, holding geese they'd shot. The officers were faced with the conundrum of either walking away, or arresting/citing everyone present.. pretty much everyone in the area.

In such a spirit, maybe the folks in Honolulu need to stand in a public place, a joint in one hand, and a firearm in the other, and see if the constables are willing to arrest the whole lot of them, or maybe just go home and call it a day.. and a bad idea.

Of course, the geese scenario gave scant justification for use of heavy counter-force, in the way that groups of armed folks with doobies might be interpreted.

But busting one person at a time is way easier than being faced with busting hundreds or thousands.

Send her the Cole memo.. Maybe a good start.

Honolulu, on the other hand, is primarily one big slab of over-priced asphalt in a humid location, over-run with tourists. The MMJ card holders could consider a mass exodus to another part of the Islands where things are a little bit more Old School, too.

[St. Phatty]

If there was ever a police chief that deserves a stink bomb in the face ...

for example a water balloon filled with what comes out of your back side when you have food poisoning (wouldn't hurt her but would ruin her day, her uniform, and never be forgotten)

may Police "Chief" Susan Ballard have an unforgettable response to her Fed & Pfizer-inspired delusion.

[MJPassion]

This shows why registration of ANY activity is bad.

Owning guns... Not bad...
Using cannabis... Not bad...

Using cannabis while owning guns... BAD!!!

You cannot have your cake and eat it too.

[Mtn. Nectar]

sounds like the Queen has made a stop on da Islands............

ganj on........

[CaptainDankness]

This is why I will never get a medical marijuana card, GW Pharmaceuticals doesn't help either. Schedule 2 marijuana=big pharma marijuana, forget about home grown.

[DocTim420]

Ahh the advantage of being old...(as in pre-gun registration)...lol. I have several pistols, a few rifles and shotguns; and just my Beretta and S&W 500 are registered. The rest I bought/obtained before the Feds required registration....ahh, the magic of owning unregistered firearms (Feds & LEO have no idea of their existence).

Yep, it pays to do what it takes to keep one's name name from appearing on silly databases. In fact, I was at the doctors office last month and where the paperwork asked for my Social Security Number and I wrote "declined to state". They informed me that they needed it to update my medical information on the "computer", and I said, "sorry, I am illegal"....lol. No number...not entry in a database.

[oldhaole]

I probably will not be too popular with the shoot'em up crowd, but I really don't care.

Though I personally feel the Federal Law regarding gun ownership by MMJ users to be stupid, and the move by the police chief to be grandstanding, after all she has been in charge for what? A week? The law is the law. It is her job to enforce it. End of story.

As a resident of Hawaii I am fine with guns being registered. I am also quite happy with the fact that if you get caught with an unregistered gun you will go to jail. As a result, most crime here is of the unarmed variety. Forbes ranked Honolulu as #3 in their safest cities, and cited our strict gun laws as the reason why.

More than 13,000 people in the US were killed by guns last year. Should they be registered? Just my opinion.... I think so.

[MJPassion]

Your right oldhaole,
That's not a popular viewpoint.
Nobody is talking about banning cars yet & they kill way more people than do guns!

When oppressive governing bodies give up their arms, I will also. (Neither will happen, btw)

Until then, I feel it is my duty to protect my family, friends, the weak & the helpless (includung the unarmed) from the oppressive behavior of the powers that are in charge of the earth at the present time.

[Crusader Rabbit]

Originally Posted by vta

Gun registrations are really only useful if you want to confiscate someone’s firearms.

Gun registrations prove to be very useful when a murder weapon is recovered and authorities want to know it's ownership.