No. You cannot legally own a gun with a medical card in Maryland. Federal law treats every marijuana user as a prohibited person who may not possess or purchase firearms or ammunition, and no state-issued medical cannabis card overrides that ban. Maryland’s own application process reinforces the prohibition by asking firearm applicants about cannabis use and denying the transaction when they disclose it.
The Federal Rule That Creates the Ban
Marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act.1Drug Enforcement Administration. Drug Scheduling The Gun Control Act separately makes it illegal for anyone who is an “unlawful user of or addicted to” a controlled substance to possess firearms or ammunition.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Because marijuana is still federally illegal no matter what Maryland allows, anyone who uses it falls into the prohibited category. The ATF has confirmed that holding a medical cannabis card is treated as evidence of unlawful use.3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons
The ban is not limited to cardholders. It applies equally to recreational users, which matters in Maryland now that adult-use cannabis is legal under state law.
What Happens When You Try to Buy a Gun
Every purchase from a licensed dealer requires you to complete ATF Form 4473, a sworn federal document. One of its questions asks whether you are an unlawful user of or addicted to marijuana or any other controlled substance, and a warning on the form states that marijuana use remains unlawful under federal law regardless of state legalization.4Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record Revisions
Answering yes triggers an automatic denial. Answering no while you are actually using cannabis is a federal crime: making a false statement to acquire a firearm. There is no honest answer that lets a current user complete the purchase.
Maryland adds another layer. To buy a handgun in the state, you need a Handgun Qualification License from the Maryland State Police. As of November 2024, the HQL application asks about cannabis use, and disclosing that you are a medical patient or a personal user results in denial.5Maryland Department of State Police. Handgun Qualification License The state’s regulated-firearm purchase form (the 77R) asks specifically whether you are a qualifying patient under Maryland’s medical cannabis program, and false answers carry the same federal exposure as lying on Form 4473.6Maryland Department of State Police. Regulated Firearm Purchases The same screening applies to Wear and Carry permits.7Maryland Department of State Police. Wear and Carry Permit Bills in the Maryland legislature to protect medical patients’ firearm rights have not passed.
Guns You Already Owned Before Getting the Card
The federal ban covers possession, not just purchases. If you owned firearms before you became a medical patient, you became a prohibited person the moment you started using cannabis. Keeping those firearms in your home is a federal felony, and the law contains no grace period or grandfather clause for guns bought legally in the past.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
Federal prosecutions of individual medical patients for this specific offense have been rare, but the exposure is real. If you come to law enforcement’s attention for any reason and they discover both the card and the firearms, prosecution is possible. Some cardholders transfer their guns to a family member or store them with a licensed dealer, though Maryland’s own transfer rules apply to how that is done.
Federal Penalties
The criminal exposure was increased in 2022.
- Making a false statement to acquire a firearm from a licensed dealer is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine
- Possessing a firearm as a prohibited person now carries a maximum of 15 years in federal prison, raised from 10 years by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, plus fines up to $250,000.10United States Congress. Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – Text
A prosecution could stack both charges when someone lied on the form and then took possession of the gun.
Will Rescheduling or Court Rulings Change This Soon?
In 2024, the Department of Justice proposed moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.11Drug Enforcement Administration. Schedules of Controlled Substances – Rescheduling of Marijuana The DEA postponed its administrative hearing in January 2025, and no final rule has been issued.12Drug Enforcement Administration. Hearing on the Proposed Rescheduling of Marijuana Postponed Even a completed rescheduling would likely not restore gun rights for cannabis users, because the Gun Control Act’s ban applies to unlawful users of any controlled substance, not just Schedule I. A Congressional Research Service analysis concluded that the inability to purchase and possess firearms “would remain the same if it is moved to Schedule III.”13United States Congress. Rescheduling Marijuana – Implications for Criminal and Collateral Consequences
The most notable court challenge is United States v. Daniels. In January 2025, the Fifth Circuit held the federal ban unconstitutional as applied to that defendant.14United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. United States v. Daniels (No. 22-60596) The government has again petitioned the Supreme Court for review.15Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Daniels – Brief in Opposition (No. 24-1248) The Daniels ruling only applies within the Fifth Circuit (Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) and has no binding effect in Maryland, which sits in the Fourth Circuit. The federal ban remains fully enforceable against Maryland residents.
Giving Up the Card to Restore Eligibility
The federal prohibition attaches to being a current user of a controlled substance, not to the card itself. Canceling your medical registration and stopping cannabis use entirely is the necessary first step, but the transition is not instant.
The Maryland State Police reportedly requires former cardholders to wait at least 12 months after cancellation before applying for a firearm purchase or HQL. Applicants have reported needing to provide cancellation confirmation from the Maryland Cannabis Administration along with a notarized affidavit that they have not used cannabis during the waiting period. Because Form 4473 asks about current use, the key question at the counter is whether you are truthfully a non-user on the day of purchase. No bright-line federal rule defines the moment someone stops being an “unlawful user,” so some ambiguity remains even after you clear the state waiting period.
The practical bottom line for Maryland residents is that you cannot legally hold a medical cannabis card and possess a firearm at the same time. Neither the courts, Congress, nor the rescheduling process has resolved the conflict, and none of those paths look likely to change the answer soon.