There are a lot of rules and restrictions around who can get a concealed carry permit in the U.S. You have to be over 21 years old. In Colorado, you must be a legal resident of the state; you can’t have been convicted of perjury; you can’t be subject to a protection order and you can’t chronically and habitually use alcoholic beverages — or any controlled substance.
That last stipulation has created a legal issue for marijuana users who want to carry a concealed firearm in Colorado. Because cannabis is still a federally illegal substance, sheriffs are technically prohibited from granting a permit to anyone who habitually uses or is addicted to it.
To Edgar Antillon, co-founder of Guns for Everyone, that is a freedom issue given that weed and alcohol are both legal in Colorado. That’s why he and his organization are lobbying to pass a ballot measure that would create yet another divergence between state and federal law. It would change Colorado’s regulations around concealed carry permits to allow cannabis users to obtain and carry them legally.
"It's one of those silly things that has been going on for a while. We've legalized marijuana, but we don't give [users] the ability to defend themselves," Antillon told Denver 7. "Alcohol users get to defend themselves. Why not marijuana users?"
Guns for Everyone, based in Jefferson County, is a business that provides free concealed carry courses for anyone who wants the training. Guns for Everyone also offers two paid courses: a Tactics Class “for those who want to learn about the neuroscience during a fight” and a class focused on the legalities of self-defense and its aftermath.
This Second Amendment advocacy group has a history with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. In 2020, then-Sheriff Justin Smith alerted the Colorado Bureau of Investigation that Guns for Everyone was conducting its concealed carry training courses solely online, in violation of a law passed in 2012 following the Aurora movie theater mass shooting. As a result, Smith started denying all Larimer County concealed carry applicants who’d conducted their training with Guns for Everyone.
Guns for Everyone sued Smith. But in September 2021, then-District Court Judge Julie Kunce Field dismissed the lawsuit. She ruled that Smith had acted lawfully, and despite an appeal filed by Guns for Everyone, the ruling was upheld.
Now Antillon and his business are backing the new measure that Colorado’s Legislative Council Staff (LCS) heard on Tuesday, Dec. 19. It would remove the stipulation from state concealed carry requirements that prohibits applicants who are ineligible to possess firearms under federal law from possessing them in Colorado. It would also add a new exception for cannabis use to the state law that prohibits unlawful users of controlled substances from getting a concealed carry permit.
During the hearing, the LCS attorneys and staff asked clarifying questions to make sure Guns for Everyone had worded its proposed ballot measure clearly and soundly. The potential ballot measure next heads to Colorado’s Secretary of State's Office. If it is accepted, Guns for Everyone will have to collect 124,238 signatures in the next six months.
Then, and only then, will Colorado voters get to vote on the measure on the November 2024 ballot.
Even though just a handful of initiatives typically make it onto a ballot, Antillon and his team at Guns for Everyone are already preparing to start their signature collection efforts. And he’s optimistic that Colorado’s voters will want to have a say on this issue and that they’ll collect the required signatures without a problem.
“We want this to be treated equally as people who consume alcohol," he told Denver7. "People who consume alcohol are able to buy guns and are able to get their permits. But at the same time, legally, they cannot be under the influence of alcohol while possessing a firearm. And pot users kind of want the same thing."