Honolulu’s chief of police has temporarily rescinded the voluntary order for medical marijuana patients to surrender their firearms in the next 30 days.
On Tuesday, the Honolulu Star Advisor reported the department’s new chief of police, Susan Ballard, would not mandate state-sanctioned patients relinquish their firearms while the department consults with other government agencies and scrutinizes applicable court rulings.
An analysis of the medical marijuana/gun policy comes on the heels of mounting criticism over a letter sent to patients on Nov. 13.
In the letter, Honolulu’s police chief cites provisions within the state’s revised statutes.
“This letter is to inform you that under the provisions of the Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), Section 134-7(a)you are disqualified from firearms ownership, possession or controlling firearms. Your medical marijuana use disqualifies you from ownership of firearms and ammunition.
HRS 134-7.3 Seizure of Firearms upon Disqualification:
If you currently own or have any firearms, you have 30 days upon receipt of this letter to voluntarily surrender your firearms, permit, and ammunition to The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) or otherwise transfer ownership.”
Michelle Yu, a department spokeswoman, explained that 30 medical marijuana cardholders had received such letters since Jan. 1, 2017, according to PoliceOne.com.
On hold, for now, the HPD was forced to reassess their policy once the Honolulu Star Advisor broke the story on Nov. 28. While this is temporarily good news for fans of the Second Amendment, the Honolulu Police Department said it will continue to “deny new firearms permits to applicants with medical marijuana cards.”
credit:marijuana.com