Supreme Court Strikes Down Hawaii Concealed-Carry Law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Hawaii law that required individuals with concealed-carry permits to obtain explicit permission from a property owner before bringing a handgun onto private property open to the public, such as stores, restaurants, and gas stations. The 6-3 ruling, delivered by Justice Samuel Alito, found the state’s “vampire rule” unconstitutional under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.

The decision in Wolford v. Lopez marks the latest expansion of gun rights by the Court’s conservative majority, continuing a trend established in its landmark 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. Justice Alito, writing for the majority, stated that Hawaii’s law “hobbles what the Second Amendment protects-the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives.” He argued the statute imposed severe restrictions on permit holders’ daily routines, effectively barring them from many common commercial establishments unless they received prior authorization.

The challenged law, known as Act 52, was enacted by Hawaii’s Democratic-led government in 2023 in response to the Bruen decision. It required...