US Supreme Court Takes Up Challenge to Hawaii’s Gun Law

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Oct. 3 to take up a new Second Amendment case related to a Hawaii law that bars the carrying of handguns on private property open to the public, such as restaurants, malls, and many businesses.

The nine justices took up an appeal by three Hawaii residents who have concealed carry licenses, and a state-based gun rights advocacy group challenging Hawaii’s law while seeking to reverse a lower court’s determination that the state law complies with the Second Amendment.

Hawaii’s gun law bans firearms on private property unless the owner has specifically allowed them on the premises. It also blocks firearms in places such as beaches, parks, bars, and restaurants that serve alcohol.

Hawaii’s measure was challenged by state residents Jason Wolford, Alison Wolford, and Atom Kasprzycki—who own firearms and have concealed carry licenses—along with the Hawaii Firearms Coalition, a gun rights organization. The defendant is listed as Hawaii Attorney General Anne E. Lopez.

In a petition to the high court submitted earlier this year, the plaintiffs ask whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which upheld the state law, “erred in holding … that Hawaii may presumptively prohibit the carry of handguns by licensed concealed carry permit holders on private property open to the public.”

A judge blocked the Hawaii law after it was challenged in court by the gun rights group and the three Maui residents. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, largely reversed that decision and allowed Hawaii to enforce the law.

The plaintiffs cited the Supreme Court’s 2022 landmark decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which established a new legal framework for evaluating firearms regulations. The Bruen decision stipulates that officials crafting gun laws must demonstrate that those laws have a historical tradition.

The petitioners said that Hawaii’s law doesn’t adhere to the standard established under Bruen, also arguing that the law “makes it impossible as a practical matter to carry a firearm for lawful self-defense in Hawaii” and that residents are effectively barred from carrying a gun “in tens of thousands of private property locations in Hawaii.”

“The Ninth Circuit has thus permitted Hawaii to eviscerate the Second Amendment right Bruen recognized,” they wrote.

The Trump administration has filed a “friend of the court” brief in the case, stating that it supports the appeal against the statewide restrictions.

“Someone carrying a firearm for self-defense cannot run errands without fear of criminal sanctions,” U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer wrote to the Supreme Court, urging the justices to take up the matter.

State attorneys argue that they’ve already loosened concealed-carry permit regulations to align with the high court’s 2022 ruling. They say its new restrictions strike a reasonable balance between gun rights and public safety.

A panel of judges on the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit court, ruling in favor of Hawaii state officials last year, concluded that gun laws enacted by Hawaii and California do have a historical tradition under the Bruen standard.

“Our nation has a clear historical tradition of banning firearms at sensitive places,” U.S. Circuit Judge Susan Graber wrote in an 84-page opinion for the court.

“In its modern decisions concerning the Second Amendment, the Supreme Court has emphasized that its rulings do not call into question longstanding laws prohibiting the carry of firearms at sensitive places such as schools, parks, and government buildings.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the date of the Supreme Court’s ruling. The Epoch Times regrets the error.