Fact check: Does a Mississippi medical marijuana card prevent you from owning a gun?

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WTOK) – The Roy Howard Community Journalism Center’s “What Is True?” team investigated a social media claim that people cannot legally own a gun if they have a medical marijuana card.

RESULTS: This claim is false.

Mississippi law says a person cannot lose the right to own, purchase or possess a firearm solely because they are registered as a medical cannabis patient or caregiver. Federal firearms law has historically created additional restrictions for marijuana users, but recent federal actions have changed how those restrictions can be applied. To learn more, read the full fact-check below.

Mississippi lawmakers included firearm protections when they adopted the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act in 2022.

The law states that registered patients and caregivers cannot be denied the right to own, purchase or possess firearms, ammunition or firearm accessories solely because of their status in the medical cannabis program. It also prohibits Mississippi state and local governments from restricting firearm rights or related licenses solely on that basis.

That means possession of a Mississippi medical cannabis card, by itself, does not disqualify someone from firearm ownership under state law.

Federal law has historically been more complicated.

Title 18, Section 922(g)(3) of the U.S. Code prohibits a person who is an “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing firearms or ammunition. The statute applies to controlled substances generally and is not limited to marijuana or Schedule I drugs.

For years, that created a conflict between state medical cannabis laws and federal firearms enforcement.

In a 2011 letter to federally licensed firearms dealers, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said federal law did not recognize an exception for marijuana used for medical purposes. ATF advised dealers at the time that a person known to possess a medical marijuana card could give a dealer reasonable cause to believe that person was an illegal marijuana user under federal law.

The federal legal landscape changed in 2026.

In April, the U.S. Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration issued a final rule moving certain marijuana products from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. The rule applies to FDA-approved marijuana products and marijuana subject to state medical marijuana licensing. It took effect April 28.

The federal government also changed how Section 922(g)(3) can be applied after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June.

In United States v. Hemani, the government prosecuted a Texas man under Section 922(g)(3) after he admitted using marijuana several times a week while possessing a firearm. On June 18, the Supreme Court ruled that the government’s prosecution of Hemani under the statute’s “unlawful user” provision was inconsistent with the Second Amendment.

The ruling did not eliminate every possible firearm restriction involving drug use.

The Supreme Court described its decision as narrow and specifically said it was not deciding whether governments may prohibit firearm possession by people who are addicted to drugs or presently intoxicated. The court also left open whether Section 922(g)(3) could be applied when the government provides individualized evidence that a person’s drug use makes that person dangerous to themselves or others.

ATF is also reviewing Form 4473, the document federally licensed firearms dealers use when transferring a firearm.

In May, ATF proposed changes intended to make the form more closely track federal statutes and simplify the information buyers and dealers must provide. As of August 2026, those revisions are part of an ongoing federal rulemaking and information collection process. The distinction is important: Holding a medical cannabis card and using cannabis are not necessarily the same legal question.

Mississippi law expressly protects a person from losing firearm rights solely because they are a registered medical cannabis patient or caregiver. Federal law historically imposed broader restrictions on illegal users of controlled substances, but the Supreme Court’s 2026 decision limits the government’s ability to automatically apply that prohibition based on marijuana use alone.

For those reasons, the claim that a person cannot legally own a gun simply because they have a Mississippi medical cannabis card is false.

About “What Is True?”

The RHCJC “What Is True?” team of graduate investigators examines everything from viral online posts to local community rumors. If you have a question, submit it to the “What Is True?” inquiry form on the RHCJC website or call 855-IS-IT-TRU (855-474-8878).

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