Back in 2021, when Democrats still had a tenuous grip on both the legislative and executive branches of government, lawmakers approved a bill allowing Virginians to legally grow and possess marijuana for personal use. Retail sales are still prohibited, but there’s a thriving gray market that’s sprung up over the past few years and enforcement has been spotty at best. Even state senators have been selling edibles containing delta-9 THC at retail locations and getting away with it, in large part because many prosecutors have simply given up on enforcing state law or are choosing to prioritize crimes involving harder drugs like fentanyl and other opioids.

While it may be legal to partake in Virginia under state law, it remains a criminal offense at the federal level, and as most gun owners know, when you fill out a Form 4473 before undergoing a background check you’re required to say whether or not you’re an unlawful user of drugs. The constitutionality of that provision has been questioned by several federal courts, but it remains in place for the time being, and one Virginia gun store owner is warning customers that they’ll be turned away if they show up smelling like they just spent several hours locked in a room with Seth Rogan and Snoop Dogg.

Have you noticed the smell of marijuana out in public more? So has the owner of Bob’s Gun Shop Steve Dowdy in Norfolk, and he said it’s a problem inside his store.

According to Dowdy, too many people coming in to buy a gun smell like marijuana.

“I would say on a normal business day, we’re probably seeing it once a day,” said Dowdy.

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He said store personnel have always been on the lookout for people who appear to have been drinking alcohol, but said those cases are rare. He never thought shoppers who smell like marijuana would be a problem and said that too often, they try to buy a gun or use the firing range.

“It’s a crime they could be charged for. Obviously, there needs to be someone here to enforce it. But yeah, it’s definitely a crime,” said Dowdy.