of controlled substances in states ….

of controlled substances in states that have legalized it, and decriminalize it nationwide.

ATF public information officer Crystal McCoy was unable to say whether federal decriminalization or descheduling would automatically permit gun owners to purchase or possess cannabis.

“As always, the ATF as a federal law enforcement entity can only enforce federal law. We cannot speculate at this juncture [on] changes that may come about from pending legislation,” she told MTFP via email.

Of Montana’s three federal elected officials, Daines addressed the issue most directly. While spokesperson Rachel Dumke said the senator “does not support descheduling marijuana,” she added that Daines “believes Second Amendment rights must be protected, and he’s looking further into the issue including the impacts of current federal law.”

Tester declined to specify whether he supports descheduling cannabis. His deputy communications director, Roy Loewenstein, said, “with the recent legalization of recreational marijuana in Montana, Sen. Tester continues to closely monitor potential legal issues at the state and federal levels.”

Both senators are co-sponsors of the SAFE Banking Act, which would enable cannabis businesses to access bank loans and accept credit cards as payment. Daines is a lead sponsor of the bill. “My bill would give certainty to Montana small businesses, reduce crime, create safer communities, boost local economies and create jobs,” he told MTFP in a written statement.

Rosendale’s campaign website says “Matt has always protected our gun rights and you can count on him to fight back against any attempt by Washington bureaucrats or any politician who tries to take our guns away.”

Rosendale’s office has not responded to multiple requests for comment on decriminalization legislation and the current conflict between state legalization and federal law.

Congressional Candidates On Reform

Of the announced candidates vying for Montana’s new western congressional seat, as well as the two Democrats seeking the nomination to run against incumbent Rosendale in the eastern district, only two — Missoula Democrat Tom Winter and Billings Democrat Penny Ronning — responded to multiple requests for comment for this story. Winter, a former state legislator who sponsored an unsuccessful state legalization bill in 2019, advocated removing barriers to possession of cannabis by gun owners.

“The idea that the federal government — when your own state has decided that it is lawful to possess and consume recreational or medical marijuana — makes you ineligible to have a gun, needs to be changed,” he told MTFP. “If there’s something in this incredibly polarized time that breaks 50 percent approval across most if not all racial and economic lines and regions of the country, I would jump on it for sheer electoral political reasons and to be a good representative,” he said. (Disclosure: Winter is a judge in an upcoming cannabis competition arranged by the author.)

Ronning, a Billings City Council member, also expressed support for reform on the condition that it applies nationwide, not solely to states with legal marijuana. (Rep. Mace’s States Reform Act would apply only in states that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use). “Cannabis needs to be dealt with and removed as a Schedule 1 drug,“ Ronning told MTFP. “I believe it should be regulated at the federal level to make this a standardized law across our country. That’s [regarding] every issue dealing with cannabis. It’s a piecemeal [approach] that I’m opposed to.”