The Opposition To Mm Patients And Caregivers With Guns- The Response To This Insanity Is Gaining Steam.

[Michael Komorn]

 

 

The Opposition to MM Patients and Caregivers with Guns- The response to this insanity is gaining steam.

 

I can honestly say that this has simply been one of the most troubling directions that the law regarding patients and caregivers has gone. Hopefully the momentum will continue and some of this insanity can stop. Thank you to our friends Lee Berger and David Goldberg.

 

 

 

 

 

Opposition to Winters' gun appeal gains steam

 

 

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111202/NEWS/112020325/-1/NEWSMAP

 

 

By Damian Mann

 

Mail Tribune

 

A team of legalexperts from around the country has joined forces to contest a U.S. SupremeCourt challenge by Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters that seeks to blockmedical marijuana patients from receiving concealed handgun licenses.

 

The lawyers assert thefederal government has no authority over a state statute regarding concealedhandgun licenses. Carrying a concealed weapon without a license is only amisdemeanor in Oregon.

 

In addition, thelawyers from Portland, Washington, D.C., New York and Virginia wade into stateversus federal rights issues, asserting the federal government cannotcommandeer the activities of local governments.

 

One of the lawyers isLeland Berger of Portland, who has taken on other cases involving medicalmarijuana issues. Among those joining him is David Goldberg of New York, who alsohas handled marijuana-related legal challenges.

 

The case involvingSheriff Mike Winters v. Cynthia Willis of Gold Hill has met with some interestby the high court.

 

Winters denied Willisa concealed handgun license in 2008 on the grounds that she uses medicalmarijuana, which is considered a controlled substance by the federalgovernment.

 

The sheriff arguedthat he couldn't give the license to Willis because that would violate the GunControl Act of 1968. Winters has lost every court case so far, including onebefore the Oregon Supreme Court.

 

Winters appealed tothe U.S. Supreme Court in July.

 

The sheriff hasprovided concealed handgun licenses to Willis and other medical marijuanapatients as a result of those court rulings.

 

A similar case fromWashington County also is being considered by the Supreme Court.

 

The Supreme Court isexpected to decide in January whether it will put the case on its formaldocket. Of the 10,000 cases sent to the Supreme Court in a given year, onlyabout 200 prompt a ruling.

 

In an email, RyanKirchoff, attorney for Jackson County, stated the team of attorneys presentedtheir arguments clearly and in good faith, but he said they didn't underminethe county's central argument that Oregon has preempted federal law.

 

Kirchoff stated herefuted the legal argument that the federal government would commandeer state'srights if it struck down the Oregon statute regarding the concealed handgunlicense.

 

The lawyers for Willisargue that Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming don't even require a permit toconceal a weapon.

 

"Underpetitioners' preemption theory, those regimes pose at least as much of an'obstacle' to Congress's purpose as Oregon's does," the brief states.

 

Under Oregon statute,medical marijuana patients should be given a concealed weapons permit if theyare otherwise law-abiding citizens, the lawyers state.

 

Winters went beyondthe requirements of the state statute by asking concealed handgun permitapplicants whether they had ever used medical marijuana, the lawyers noted.

 

Reach reporter DamianMann at 541-776-4476, or email dmann@mailtribune.com.

 

 

[blissfest]

Yeah, we need to figure this gun thing out.

 

What about all of us patients that legally hunt? I have a handful of hunting guns?

[maxmax]

Yeah, we need to figure this gun thing out.

 

What about all of us patients that legally hunt? I have a handful of hunting guns?

i agree with that but as of now dont get busted with mmj and a gun you may get off but it will cost you lots on $$$$

[AmishRnot4ganja]

It looks like this sheriff is pursuing this issue based on personal biases. All the courts in his state sided with the medical marijuana patients and he was just too pissed to let it slide. He is wasting precious state resources by continuing to vindictively pursue this matter.

 

This all sounds a lot like what our Attorney General is doing here in Michigan. He is on a mission from God, and therefore it doesn't matter how much money he wastes.

[blissfest]

i agree with that but as of now dont get busted with mmj and a gun you may get off but it will cost you lots on $$$$

 

 

Right, never ever have mmj on you when hunting.

 

But can I store my guns at the same residence I grow?

[puffaway]

Right, never ever have mmj on you when hunting.

 

But can I store my guns at the same residence I grow?

 

Nope. And thats a huge problem and mandatory jail time.