The Supreme Court handed gun rights activists a major victory on Thursday, striking down a sweeping Hawaii gun law that required gun owners to get permission to carry their firearms on any private property in the state.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the 6-3 majority opinion, finding Hawaii’s law is unconstitutional under both the Second and 14th amendments.
“This regime hobbles what the Second Amendment protects: the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives,” Alito wrote. “We hold that the law is unconstitutional.”
In Wolford v. Lopez, the Supreme Court weighed whether the Hawaii gun law, created in the aftermath of the high court’s 2022 landmark gun case New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, violated the Second Amendment.
Hawaii’s Act 52, enacted in 2023, banned handgun owners who have a concealed carry permit from bringing their weapon onto private property unless the owner or manager gave the person “express authorization to carry a firearm on the property.” Gun rights advocates have claimed the law is too sweeping and violates the Second Amendment by effectively nullifying their concealed carry permits, while anti-gun advocates framed the dispute as a matter of private property rights.
HAWAII GUN CASE AT SUPREME COURT PITS GUN RIGHTS AGAINST PRIVATE PROPERTY LAWS
During oral arguments in January, a majority of the justices appeared deeply skeptical of Hawaii’s defense of its sweeping gun law, with Alito pointedly asserting to Hawaii’s lawyer that their argument was “relegating the Second Amendment to second-class status.” Chief Justice John Roberts also added to the chorus of concern, saying it appeared Hawaii was treating the Second Amendment as a “disfavored right.”
The high court issued another key gun rights ruling earlier this month in United States v. Hemani, in which it ruled that a federal law barring unlawful drug users from possessing firearms was unconstitutional. The narrow ruling was a major victory for marijuana users who own firearms.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.