Today, the National Rifle Association joined a coalition of pro-Second Amendment organizations—including the Second Amendment Law Center, California Rifle & Pistol Association, Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association, Hawaii Rifle Association, Gun Owners of California, Second Amendment Defense and Education Coalition, Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois, Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, and Operation Blazing Sword–Pink Pistols—in filing an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to Hawaii’s law forbidding carry on private property open to the public without the property owner’s express consent.
In response to the NRA’s landmark victory in NYSRPA v. Bruen—which established that all Americans have a right to carry firearms in public—Hawaii passed a law requiring concealed-carry permitholders to obtain consent from property owners before carrying in ordinary public places such as restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores.
Although the Second Circuit struck down New York’s similar law, the Ninth Circuit upheld Hawaii’s. Highlighting this circuit split, the plaintiffs have now petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Our brief was filed in support of that petition.
The brief emphasizes that Hawaii’s law was deliberately designed to make public carry so impractical that citizens choose not to exercise their rights. It further explains that there is no historical tradition supporting the regulation, and it highlights the flaws in the Ninth Circuit’s opinion.
The case is named Wolford v. Lopez, and the brief can be read here.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights, and please visit www.nraila.org/litigation to keep up to date on NRA-ILA’s ongoing litigation efforts.