In 2004, Vermont implemented a
medical marijuana registry, promising
patient confidentiality on its state website. Then, in 2018, Vermont
legalized recreational marijuana use and imposed a
universal background check on gun-purchasers.
Here's the rub: the federal government was not consulted, and the
ATF maintains that anyone using marijuana will be denied clearance to purchase any gun. This was already the case prior to Vermont's recreational cannabis legalization — those who were on the state's marijuana registry were
not allowed to buy guns from federally licensed dealers, as the state of Vermont
provided the list of registrants surreptitiously to the federal government. Yet those on the cannabis registry could still purchase guns from neighbors — that is, until the vaulted "universal background check" closed that "loophole" for sick people to defend themselves.
All without public discussion, or even awareness.
This is how government steals liberties.
The Second Amendment was specifically crafted to ensure that government would never intrude itself between the right to defend one's home and country and the Creator of the universe, who alone can bestow or withdraw "
inalienable rights." There was no discussion in the Vermont Legislature of the elimination of this right for pain-suffering Vermonters whose government promised them confidentiality. There will be no discussion when that unilateral power is employed to
eliminate those with depression,
PTSD, or
various other attributes from the list of those eligible (that is, who "hold the right" granted by government) to purchase a weapon. This is the creeping hand of government tyranny, happening already in many states. (Sadly, such policies will
discourage veterans and
others from seeking treatment.)